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RURAL  LIFE 
AND  THE  RURAL  SCHOOL 


BY 
JOSEPH  KENNEDY 

DEAN  OF  THE  SCHOOL  OF  EDLTCATION  IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA 


AMERICAN   BOOK   COMPANY 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI  CHICAGO 


Copyright,  1915,  by 

JOSEPH   KENNEDY 

Copyright,  1915,  in  Great  Britain 


Rural  Life  and  the  Rural  School 
W.  P.  I. 


PREFACE 

This  volume  is  addressed  to  the  men  and  women  who 
have  at  heart  the  interests  of  rural  life  and  the  rural  school. 
I  have  tried  to  avoid  deeply  speculative  theories  on  the  one 
hand,  and  distressingly  practical  details  on  the  other;  and 
have  addressed  myself  chiefly  to  the  intelligent  individual 
everywhere — to  the  farmer  and  his  wife,  to  the  teachers 
of  rural  schools,  to  the  public  spirited  school  boards, 
individually  and  collectively,  and  to  the  leaders  of  rural 
communities  and  of  social  centers  generally.  I  have  tried 
to  avoid  the  two  extremes  which  Guizot  says  are  always 
to  be  shunned,  viz.:  that  of  the  " visionary  theorist "  and 
that  of  the  "hbertine  practician. "  The  former  is  analogous 
to  a  blank  cartridge,  and  the  latter  to  the  mire  of  a  swamp 
or  the  entangled  underbrush  of  a  thicket.  The  legs  of 
one's  theories  (as  Lincoln  said  of  those  of  a  man)  should 
be  long  enough  to  reach  the  earth;  and  yet  they  must  be 
free  to  move  upon  the  solid  ground  of  fact  and  experience. 
Details  must  always  be  left  to  the  person  who  is  to  do  the 
work,  whether  it  be  that  of  the  teacher,  of  the  farmer,  or  of 
the  school  officer. 

I  am  aware  that  there  is  a  veritable  flood  of  books  on 
this  and  kindred  topics,  now  coming  from  the  presses  of 
the  country.  My  sole  reasons  for  the  publication  of  the 
present  volume  are  the  desire  to  deliver  the  message  which 
has  come  to  fruition  in  my  mind,  and  the  hope  that  it 

3 


4  PREFACE 

may  reach  and  interest  some  who  have  not  been  benefited 
by  a  better  and  more  systematic  treatise  on  this  subject. 

By  way  of  credential  and  justification,  I  would  say  that 
the  message  of  the  book  has  in  large  measure  grown  out  of 
my  own  life  and  thought;  for  I  was  born  and  brought  up  in 
the  country,  there  I  received  my  elementary  education, 
and  there  I  remained  till  man  grown.  Practically  every 
kind  of  work  known  on  the  farm  was  familiar  to  me,  and 
I  have  also  taught  and  supervised  rural  schools.  These 
experiences  are  regarded  as  of  the  highest  value,  and  I  re- 
vert in  memory  to  them  with  a  satisfaction  and  affection 
which  words  cannot  express. 

If  there  should  seem  to  be  a  note  of  despair  in  some  of 
the  earlier  chapters  as  to  the  desired  outcome  of  the  prob- 
lems of  rural  life  and  the  rural  school,  it  is  not  intended 
that  such  impression  shall  be  complete  and  final.  An 
attempt  is  made  simply  to  place  the  problem  and  the  facts 
in  their  true  fight  before  the  reader.  There  has  been  much 
''palavering"  on  this  subject,  as  there  has  been  much  en- 
forced screaming  of  the  eagle  in  many  of  our  Fourth  of  July 
"orations."  I  feel  that  the  first  requisite  is  to  conceive 
the  problems  clearly  and  in  all  seriousness. 

If  these  problems  are  to  be  solved,  true  conceptions  of 
values  must  be  estabfished  in  the  social  mind.  Many  pres- 
ent conceptions,  like  those  of  the  personality  of  the  teacher, 
standards  for  teaching,  supervision,  school  equipment, 
salary,  etc.,  must  first  be  ^^-established,  and  then  higher 
and  better  ones  substituted.  There  will  have  to  be  a 
genuine  and  intelligent  "tackling"  of  the  problems,  and 
not,  as  has  been  the  case  too  often,  a  mere  playing  with 
them.    There  will  have  to  be  some  real  statesmanship 


PREFACE  5 

introduced  into  the  present  laissez-faire  spirit,  attitude, 
and  methods  of  American  rural  life  and  rural  education. 
The  nation  in  this  respect  needs  a  trumpet  call  to  action. 
There  is  need  of  a  chorus,  loud  and  long,  and  if  the  small 
voice  of  the  present  discussion  shall  add  only  a  little — 
however  Uttle — to  this  volume  of  sound,  there  will  be  so 
much  of  gain.     This  is  my  aim  and  my  hope. 

JOSEPH  KENNEDY 

The  University  of  North  Dakota 


CONTENTS 


I.    Rural  Life 9 

A  generation  ago;  Chores  and  work;  Value  of  work;  Ex- 
tremes; Yearly  routine;  Disliked  in  comparison;  Other 
hard  jobs;  Harvesting;  Threshing;  Welcome  events; 
Winter  work;  What  the  old  days  lacked;  The  result;  The 
backward  rural  school;  Women's  condition  unrelieved;  The 
rural  problem  must  be  met;  Facilities. 

II.    The  Urban  Trend 19 

Cityward;  Attractive  forces;  Conveniences  in  cities; 
Urbanized  literature;  City  schools;  City  churches;  City 
work  preferred;  Retired  farmers;  Educational  centers; 
Face  the  problem;  Educational  value  not  realized;  Wrong 
standard  in  the  social  mind;  Rural  organization;  Play- 
ing with  the  problem. 

III.  The  Real  and  the  Ideal  School      ...        28 

The  building;  No  system  of  ventilation;  The  surround- 
ings; The  interior;  Small,  dead  school;  That  picture  and 
this;  Architecture  of  building;  Get  expert  opinion;  Othei 
surroundings;  Number  of  pupils;  It  will  not  teach  alone; 
The  teacher;  A  good  rural  school;  The  problem. 

IV.  Some  Lines  of  Progress 38 

Progress;  In  reaping  machines;  The  dropper;  The  hand 
rake;  The  self  rake;  The  harvester;  The  wire  binder;  The 
twine  binder;  Threshing  machine;  The  first  machine;  Im- 
provements; The  steam  engine;  Improvements  in  ocean 
travel;  From  hand-spinning  to  factory;  The  cost;  Progress 
in  higher  education;  Progress  in  normal  schools;  Progress 
in  agricultural  colleges;  Progress  in  the  high  schools;  How 
is  the  rural  school? 

V.    A  Backward  and  Neglected  Field  ...       49 

Rural  schools  the  same  everywhere;  Rural  schools  no 
better  than  formerly ;  Some  improvements;  Strong  person- 
alities in  the  older  schools;  More  men  needed;  Low  stand- 
ard now;  The  survival  of  the  unfittest;  Short  terms;  Poor 
supervision;  No  decided  movement,  Elementary  teaching 
6 


CONTENTS 


not  a  profession;  The  problem  difficult,  but  before  us; 
Other  educational  interests  should  help;  Higher  standards 
necessary;  Courses  for  teachers;  The  problem  of  compen- 
sation; Consolidation  as  a  factor;  Better  supervision  neces- 
sary; A  model  rural  school;  The  teacher  should  lead;  A 
good  boarding  place. 

VI.    Consolidation  of  Rural  Schools      ...       63 

The  process;  When  not  necessary;  The  district  system; 
The  township  system;  Consolidation  difficult  in  district 
system;  Easier  in  township  system;  Consolidation  a  special 
problem  for  each  district;  Disagreements  on  transportation; 
Each  community  must  decide  for  itself;  The  distance  to  be 
transported;  Responsible  driver;  Cost  of  consolidation; 
More  life  in  the  consolidated  school;  Some  grading  desir- 
able; Better  teachers;  Better  buildings  and  inspection; 
Longer  terms;  Regularity,  punctuality,  and  attendance; 
Better  supervision;  The  school  as  a  social  center;  Better 
roads;  Consolidation  coming  everywhere;  The  married 
teacher  and  permanence. 

VII.    The  Ti;acheb.._. 77 

/  ^^greatest  factor;  What  education  is;  What  the  real 

tea'cKCr  fs;  A  hypnotist;  Untying  knots;  Too  much  kind- 
ness; The  button  illustration;  The  chariot  race;  Physically 
sound;  Character;  Well  educated;  Professional  preparation; 
Experience;  Choosing  a  teacher;  A  "scoop";  What  makes 
the  difference;  A  question  of  teachers. 

VIII.    The  Three  Inseparables 88 

The  "mode";  The  "mode"  in  labor;  The  "mode"  in 
educational  institutions;  No  "profession";  Weak  person- 
alities; Low  standard;  The  norm  of  wages  too  low;  The 
inseparables;  Raise  the  standard  first;  More  men;  Coopera- 
tion needed;  The  supply;  Make  it  fashionable;  The  retire- 
ment system;  Similar  problem  in  the  church;  City  and 
country  salaries — effects;  The  solution  demands  more;  A 
good  school  board;  Board  and  teacher;  The  ideal. 

IX.    The  Rural  School  Curriculum  .100 

Imitation;  The  country  imitates  the  city;  Textbooks; 
An  interpreting  core;  Rural  teachers  from  the  city;  A 
course  for  rural  teachers;  All  not  to  remain  in  the  country; 
Mere  textbook  teaching;  A  rich  environment;  WTio  will 
teach  these  things?;  The  scientific  spirit  needed;  A  course 
of  study;  Red  tape;  Length  of  lerm;  Individual  work; 
"Waking  up  the  mind";  The  overflow  of  instruction;  Affili- 
ation; The  "liking  point ";  The  teacher,  the  chief  factor. 


8  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

X.    The  Social  Center 114 

The  teacher,  the  leader;  Some  community  activities; 
The  literary  society;  Debates;  The  school  program;  Spelling 
schools;  Lectures;  Dr^inifitic  performances;  A  musical  pro- 
gram; Slides  and  moWng  pictures;  Supervised  dancing; 
Sports  and  games;  Schfooi^ exhibits;  A  public  forum;  Cour- 
tesy and  candor;  Aytomdbile  parties;  Full  life  or  a  full 
purse;  Organization;  The  inseparables. 

XI.    Rural  School  Supervision 127 

Important;  Supervision  standardizes;  Supervision  can  be 
overdone;  Needed  in  rural  schools;  No  supervision  in  some 
states;  Nominal  supervision;  Some  supervision;  An  im-  « 

possible  task;  The  problem  not  tackled;  City  supervision; 
The  purpose  of  supervision;  What  is  needed;  The  term;  As- 
sistants; The  schools  examined;  Keep  down  red  tape;  Help 
the  social  centers;  Conclusion.  -^ 

XII.  Leadership  and  Cooperation   ....   139' 

The  real  leader;  Teaching  vs.  telling;  Enlisting  the  co- 
operation of  pupils;  Placing  responsibility;  How  people 
remain  children;  On  the  farm;  Renters;  The  owner;  The 
teacher  as  a  leader;  Self-activity  and  self-government; 
Taking  laws  upon  one's  self;  An  educational  column;  All 
along  the  educational  line. 

XIII.  The  Farmer  and  His  Home 152 

Farming  in  the  past;  Old  conceit  and  prejudice;  Leveling 
down;  Premises  indicative;  Conveniences  by  labor-saving 
devices;  Eggs  in  several  baskets;  The  best  is  the  cheapest; 
Good  work;  Good  seed  and  trees;  A  good  caretaker;  Family 
cooperation;  An  ideal  life. 

XIV.  The  Rural  Renaissance 160 

Darkest  before  the  dawn;  The  awakening;  The  agricul- 
tural colleges;  Conventions;  Other  awakening  agencies; 
The  farmer  in  politics;  The  National  Commission;  Mixed 
farming;  Now  before  the  country;  Educational  extension; 
Library  extension  work;  Some  froth;  Thought  and  attitude. 

XV.    A  Good  Place  After  All 169 

Not  pessimistic;  Fewer  hours  of  labor  than  formerly; 
The  mental  factor  growing;  The  bright  side  of  old-time 
country  life;  The  larger  environment;  Games;  Inventive- 
ness in  rural  life;  Activity  rather  than  passivity;  Child 
labor;  The  finest  life  on  earth. 


RURAL   LIFE  AND  THE   RURAL 
SCHOOL 

CHAPTFT^  T 
RURAL  LIFE 

It  is  only  within  the  past  decade  that  rural  life 
and  the  rural  school  have  been  recognized  as  genuine 
problems  for  the  consideration  of  the  American  people. 
Not  many  years  ago,  a  president  of  the  United  States, 
acting  upon  his  own  initiative,  appointed  a  Rural  School 
Commission  to  investigate  country  life  and  to  suggest 
a  solution  for  some  of  its  problems.  That  Commission 
itself  and  its  report  were  both  the  effect  and  the  cause 
of  an  awakening  of  the  public  mind  upon  this  most 
important  problem.  Within  the  past  few  years  the 
cry  ''Back  to  the  country'"  has  been  heard  on  every 
hand,  and  means  are  now  constantly  being  proposed  for 
reversing  the  urban  trend,  or  at  least  for  minimizing  it. 

A  Generation  Ago. — Rural  life,  as  it  existed  a  quarter 
of  a  century  or  more  ago,  was  extremely  severe  and 
indeed  to  our  mind  quite  repellent.    In  those  days — 
and  no  doubt  they  are  so  even  yet  in  many  places — " 
the  conditions  were  too  often  forbidding  and  deterrent. 

9 


lO  RURAL  LIFE 

Otherwise  how  can  we  explain  the  very  general  tendency 
among  the  younger  people  to  move  from  the  country 
to  the  city? 

Chores  and  Work. — ^The  country  youth,  a  mere 
boy  in  his  teens,  was,  and  still  is,  compelled  to  rise 
early  in  the  morning — often  at  five  o'clock — and  to  go 
through  the  round  of  chores  and  of  work  for  a  long 
day  of  twelve  to  fifteen  hours.  First,  after  rising,  he 
had  his  team  to  care  for,  the  stables  were  to  be  cleaned, 
cows  to  be  milked,  and  hogs  and  calves  to  be  fed. 

After  the  chores  were  done  the  boy  or  the  young  man 
had  to  work  all  day  at  manual  labor,  usually  close  to 
the  soil;  he  was  allowed  about  one  hour's  rest  at  dinner 
time;  in  the  evening  after  a  day's  hard  labor,  he  had  to 
perform  the  same  round  of  chores  as  in  the  morning  so 
that  there  was  but  a  short  time  for  play  and  recreation, 
if  he  had  any  surplus  energy  left.  He  usually  retired 
early,  for  he  was  fatigued  and  needed  sleep  and  rest 
in  order  to  be  refreshed  for  the  following  day,  when  he 
would  be  required  only  to  repeat  the  same  dull  round 
over  and  over  again. 

Value  of  Work. — Of  course  work  is  a  good  thing. 
A  moderate  and  reasonable  amount  of  labor  is  usually 
the  salvation  of  any  individual.  No  nation  or  race 
has  come  up  from  savagery  to  civilization  without  the 
stimulating  influence  of  labor.  It  is  likewise  true  that 
no  individual  can  advance  from  the  savagery  of  child- 
hood to  the  civihzation  of  adult  Hfe  except  through 
work  of  some  kind.    Work  in  a  reasonable  amount  is  a 


RURAL  LIFE  1 1 

blessing  and  not  a  curse.  It  is  probably  due  to  this 
fact  that  so  many  men  in  our  history  have  become  dis- 
tinguished in  professional  hfe,  in  the  forum,  on  the 
bench,  and  in  the  national  Congress;  in  childhood  and 
youth  they  were  inured  to  habits  of  work.  This 
kept  them  from  temptation,  and  endowed  them  with 
habits  of  industry,  of  concentration,  and  of  purpose. 
The  old  adage  that  "Satan  finds  some  mischief  still  for 
idle  hands  to  do,"  found  little  application  in  the  rural 
life  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 

Extremes. — Even  with  all  its  unrecognized  advan- 
tages, the  fact  remains  that  rural  life  has  been  quite 
generally  repugnant  to  the  average  human  being. 
There  are  individuals  who  become  so  accustomed  to 
hard  work  that  the  habit  really  grows  to  be  pleasant. 
This,  no  doubt,  often  happens.  Habit  accustoms  the 
individual  to  accommodate  himself  to  existing  condi- 
tions, no  matter  how  severe  they  may  be.  A  very  old 
man  who  was  shocking  wheat  under  the  hot  sun  of  a 
harvest  day  was  once  told  that  it  must  be  hard  work 
for  him.  He  repUed,  "Yes,  but  I  like  it  when  the 
bundles  are  my  own."  So  the  few  who  are  interested 
and  accustomed  by  habit  to  this  kind  of  Hfe  may 
enjoy  it,  but  to  the  great  majority  of  people  the  con- 
ditions would  be  decidedly  unattractive. 

Yearly  Routine. — The  yearly  routine  on  the  farm 
used  to  be  about  as  follows:  In  early  spring,  before 
seeding  time  had  come,  all  the  seed  wheat  had  to  be 
put  through  the  fanning  mill.     The  seed  was  sown 


12  RURAL  LIFE 

by  hand.  A  man  carried  a  heavy  load  of  grain  upon 
his  back  and  walked  from  one  end  of  the  field  to  the 
other,  sowing  it  broadcast  as  he  went.  After  the  wheat 
had  been  sown,  plowing  for  the  corn  and  potatoes  w^as 
begun  and  continued.  These  were  all  planted  by  hand, 
and  when  they  came  above  ground  they  were  hoed  by 
hand  and  cultivated  repeatedly  by  walking  and  holding 
the  plow. 

Disliked  in  Comparison. — All  of  this  work  implies, 
of  course,  that  the  person  doing  it  was  close  to  the 
soil;  in  fact,  he  was  in  the  soil.  He  wore,  necessarily, 
old  clothes  somewhat  begrimed  by  dirt  and  dust. 
His  shoes  or  boots  were  heavy  and  his  step  became 
habitually  long  and  slow.  Manual  labor  always  neces- 
sitates some  absence  and  neglect  of  cleanliness.  The 
laborer  on  the  farm  necessarily  has  about  him  the  odor 
of  horses,  of  cows,  and  of  barns.  These,  it  is  true,  are 
not  bad,  but  they  are  nevertheless  repulsive,  when 
compared  mth  the  neatness  and  cleanhness  of  the  clerk 
in  the  bank  or  behind  the  counter.  We  do  not  write 
these  words  in  any  spirit  of  disparagement,  but  merely 
from  the  point  of  view  at  which  many  young  people  in 
the  country  view  them.  We  are  trying  to  face  the 
truth  in  order  to  understand  the  problem  to  be  solved. 
It  is  essential  to  look  at  the  situation  squarely  and  to 
view  it  steadily  and  honestly.  Hiding  our  heads  in 
the  sand  will  not  clarify  our  vision. 

Other  Hard  Jobs. — The  next  step  in  the  yearly 
round   was   haymaking.    The    grass   was    frequently 


RURAL  LIFE  13 

cut  with  scythes.  In  any  event  the  work  of  raking, 
curing,  and  stacking  the  hay,  or  the  hauUng  it  and 
pitching  it  into  the  barns  was  heavy  work.  There  was 
no  hayfork  operated  by  machinery  in  those  days.  When 
not  haying,  the  youth  was  usually  put  to  summer- 
fallowing  or  to  breaking  new  ground,  to  fencing  or 
spHtting  rails, — all  heavy  work.  No  wonder  that  he 
always  welcomed  a  rainy  day! 

Harvesting. — Then  came  the  wheat  -  harvest  time. 
Within  the  memory  of  the  author  some  of  the  grain 
was  cut  with  cradles;  later,  simple  reaping  machines 
of  various  kinds  were  used;  but  \\ith  them^went  the 
binding,  shocking,  and  stacking,  all  performed  by 
hand  and  aU  arduous  pieces  of  work.  These  opera- 
tions were  interspersed  with  plowing  and  threshing. 
Then  came  corn  cutting,  potato  digging,  and  corn 
husking. 

Threshing. — In  those  days  most  of  the  work  around 
a  threshmg  machine  was  also  done  by  hand.  There 
was  no  self-feeding  apparatus  and  no  band-cutting 
device;  there  was  no  straw-blower  and  no  measuring 
and  weighing  attachments.  It  usually  required  about 
a  dozen  "hands"  to  do  aU  the  work.  These  men 
worked  strenuously  and  usually  in  dusty  places.  The 
only  redeeming  feature  of  the  business  was  the  oppor- 
tunity given  for  social  intercourse  which  accompanied 
the  work.  Men,  being  social  by  instinct,  always  work 
more  willingly  and  more  strenuously  when  others  arc 
with  them. 


14  RURAL  LIFE 

Welcome  Events. — It  is  quite  natural,  as  we  have 
said,  that  under  such  conditions  as  these  the  youth 
longed  for  a  rainy  day.  A  trip  to  the  city  was  always 
a  delightful  break  in  the  monotony  of  his  life,  and  a 
short  respite  from  severe  toil.  Sunday  was  usually 
the  only  social  occasion  in  rural  life.  It  was  always 
welcome,  and  the  boys,  even  though  tired  physically 
from  work  during  the  week,  usually  played  ball,  or 
went  swimming,  or  engaged  in  other  games  on  Sunday 
afternoons.  Living  in  isolation  all  the  week  and  en- 
gaged in  hard  labor,  they  instinctively  craved  com- 
panionship and  society. 

Winter  Work. — When  the  fall  work  was  done, 
winter  came  with  its  own  occupations.  There  were 
usually  about  four  months  of  school  in  the  rural  dis- 
trict, but  even  during  this  season  there  was  much 
manual  labor  to  be  done.  Trees  were  to  be  cut  down 
and  wood  was  to  be  chopped,  sawed,  and  spht  for  the 
coming  summer.  Land  frequently  had  to  be  cleared 
to  make  new  fields;  the  breaking  of  colts  and  of  steers 
constituted  part  of  the  sport  as  well  as  of  the  labor  of 
that  season  of  the  year. 

What  the  Old  Days  Lacked. — There  was  Httle  or  no 
machinery  as  a  factor  in  the  rural  life  of  days  gone  by. 
In  these  modem  times,  of  course,  many  things  have 
made  country  life  more  attractive  than  formerly. 
Twenty-five  years  ago  there  was  no  rural  delivery,  no 
motor  cycle,  no  automobile;  even  horses  and  buggies 
were  somewhat  of  a  luxury,  for  in  the  remote  country 


RURAL  LIFE  1 5 

districts  the  ox  team  or  ** Shanks'  mares"  formed  the 
usual  mode  of  travel. 

The  Result. — It  is  little  wonder  that  under  such 
circumstances  discontent  arose  and  that  people  who 
by  nature  are  sociable  longed  to  go  where  Hfe  was, 
in  their  opinion,  more  agreeable.  Even  with  all  the 
later  conveniences  and  improvements,  the  trend  city- 
ward still  continues  and  may  continue  indefinitely  in 
the  future.  The  American  people  may  as  well  face 
the  facts  as  they  are.  It  is  difficult  if  not  impossible 
to  make  the  country  as  attractive  to  young  people  as 
is  the  city;  and  consequently  to  reverse  or  even  stop 
the  urban  trend  is  going  to  be  most  difficult.  Indeed, 
some  of  the  things  which  make  rural  life  pleasant, 
like  the  automobile,  favor  this  trend,  which  probably 
will  continue  until  economic  pressure  puts  on  the 
brakes.  Even  now,  \\dth  all  our  improvements,  the 
social  factors  in  rural  Ufe  are  comparatively  small. 
Here  is  one  of  our  greatest  problems:  How  to  increase 
the  fullness  of  social  hfe  in  rural  communities  so  as  to 
make  country  life  and  Hving  more  attractive. 

The  Backward  Rural  School. — Although  the  material 
conditions  and  facilities  for  work  have  improved  by 
reason  of  various  inventions  in  recent  years,  the  one- 
room  rural  school  of  former  days  was  as  good  as,  if 
not  better  in  some  respects  than,  the  school  of  to-day. 
Formerly  there  were  many  men  engaged  in  teaching 
who  could  earn  as  much  in  the  schoolroom  as  they  could 
in  other  fields.     There  were  consequently  in  the  rural 


l6  RURAL  LIFE 

schools  a  great  many  strong  personalities,  both  men 
and  women.  Since  that  time  new  opportunities  and 
callings  have  developed  so  rapidly  that  some  of  the 
most  capable  people  have  been  attracted  away  from 
the  rural  schools,  and  have  left  these  schools  in  a 
weakened  condition. 

Women's  Condition  Unrelieved. — With  all  our  im- 
provements and  conveniences,  the  work  of  women  in 
country  communities  has  been  relieved  but  little. 
Rural  life  has  always  been  and  still  is  a  hard  one  for 
women.  It  has  been,  in  many  instances,  a  veritable 
state  of  slavery;  for  women  in  the  country  have  always 
been  compelled  to  do  not  only  their  own  proper  work, 
but  the  work  of  two  or  three  persons.  The  working 
hours  for  women  are  even  longer  than  those  for  men; 
for  breakfast  must  be  prepared  for  the  workmen,  and 
household  work  must  be  done  after  the  evening  meal 
is  eaten.  It  is  little  to  be  wondered  at  that  women 
as  a  rule  wish  to  leave  the  drudgery  of  rural  life.  Under 
the  improved  conditions  of  the  present  day,  with  all 
kinds  of  machinery,  the  work  of  women  is  lightened 
least.  ^ 

The  Rural  Problem  Must  Be  Met. — I  have  given 
a  short  description  of  rural  life  in  order  to  have  .a 
setting  for  the  rural  school.  The  school  is,  without 
doubt,  the  center  of  the  rural  life  problem,  and  we 

^  There  is  an  illuminating  article,  entitled  "  The  Farmer  and  His 
W'fe,"  by  Martha  Bensley  Bruere  in  Good  Housekeeping  Magazine, 
for  June,  1914,  p.  820. 


RURAL  LIFE  1 7 

are  face  to  face  with  it  for  a  solution  of  some  kind. 
The  problems  of  both  have  been  too  long  neglected. 
Now  forced  upon  our  attention,  they  should  receive 
the  thoughtful  consideration  of  all  persons  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  society.  They  are  difficult  of  solu- 
tion, probably  the  most  difficult  of  all  those  which  our 
generation  has  to  face.  They  involve  the  reduction  of 
the  repellent  forces  in  rural  Hfe  and  the  increase  of 
such  forces  and  agencies  as  will  be  attractive,  es- 
pecially to  the  young.  The  great  pfoFt^m  is,  how  can 
the  trend  city^vard  be  checked  or  revefsed? 

What  attractions  are  possible  and  feasible  in  the 
rural  communities?  In  each  there  should  be  some 
recognized  center  to  provide  these  various  attractions. 
There  should  be  lectures  and  debates,  plays  of  a 
serious  character,  musical  entertainments,  and  social 
functions;  even  the  moving  picture  might  be  made  of 
great  educational  value.  There  is  no  reason  why  the 
people  in  the  country  are  not  entitled  to  all  the  satis- 
fying mental  food  which  the  people  of  the  city  enjoy. 
These  things  can  be  secured,  too,  if  the  people  will 
only  awake  to  a  realization  of  their  value,  and  will 
show  their  willingness  to  pay  for  them.  Something 
cannot  be  secured  for  nothing.  In  the  last  resort  the 
solution  of  most  problems,  as  well  as  the  accomplish- 
ment of  most  aims,  involves  the  expenditure  of  money. 
When  the  people  of  the  rural  communities  come  to 
value  the  finer  educational,  cultural,  ci\ilizing,  and 
intangible  things  more  than  they  value  money,  the 

Rural  Life — 2 


1 8  RURAL  LIFE 

problem  will  be  solved.     It  is  certainly  a  question  of 
values — in  aims  and  means. 

Facilities. — Many  inventions  might  be  utilized  on 
the  farm  to  better  advantage  than  they  are  at  present. 
But  people  live  somewhat  isolated  lives  in  rural  com- 
munities and  there  are  not  the  active  comparison  and 
competition  that  one  finds  in  the  city;  improvements 
of  all  kinds  are  therefore  slower  of  realization.  Values 
are  not  forced  home  by  every-day  discussion  and 
comparison.  People  continue  to  do  as  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  do,  and  there  are  men  who  o\vn  large 
farms  and  have  large  bank  accounts  who  continue  to 
live  without  the  modern  improvements,  and  hence  with 
but  few  comforts  in  life.  A  revival  of  interest  in  the 
best  rural  life  needs  to  be  awakened,  and  to  this  end 
rural  communities  should  be  better  organized,  socially, 
economically,  and  educationally. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  URBAN  TREND 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  discussed  those  forces 
at  work  in  rural  life  which  tend  to  drive  people  from 
the  farm  to  the  city.  It  was  shown  that,  on  the 
whole,  up  to  the  present  at  least,  farm  life  has  not  been 
as  pleasant  as  it  should  or  could  be  made.  Many 
aspects  of  it  are  uncomfortable,  if  not  painful.  Hard 
manual  labor,  long  hours  of  toil,  and  partial  isolation 
from  one's  fellows  usually  and  generally  characterize  it. 
Of  course,  there  are  many  who  by  nature  or  habit,  or 
who  by  their  ingenuity  and  thrift,  have  made  it  serve 
them,  and  who  therefore  have  come  to  love  the  life 
of  the  country;  but  we  are  speaking  with  reference  to 
the  average  men  and  women  who  have  not  mastered 
the  forces  at  hand,  which  can  be  turned  to  their  service 
only  by  thought  and  thrift. 

Cityward. — The  trend  toward  the  cities  is  unmis- 
takable. So  alarming  has  it  become  that  it  has  aroused 
the  American  people  to  a  reahzation  that  something 
must  be  done  to  reverse  it  or  at  least  to  minimize  it. 
At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  only  three  per 
cent  of  the  total  population  of  our  country  lived  in 
what  could  be  termed  cities.     In  1810  only  about  five 

19 


20  THE  URBAN  TREND 

per  cent  of  the  whole  population  was  urban;  while 
in  1 910  forty-six  per  cent  of  our  people  lived  in  cities. 
This  means,  of  course,  that,  relatively,  the  forces 
of  production  are  not  keeping  pace  with  the  growth  and 
demands  of  consumption.  In  some  of  the  older  Atlan- 
tic states,  as  one  rides  through  the  country,  vast  areas 
of  uncultivated  land  meet  the  view.  The  people  have 
gone  to  the  city.  Large  cities  absorb  smaller  ones,  and 
the  small  towns  absorb  the  inhabitants  of  the  rural 
districts.  Every  city  and  town  is  making  strenuous 
efforts  to  build  itself  up,  if  need  be  at  the  expense  of 
the  smaller  to\ATis  and  the  rural  communities.  To 
"boom"  its  own  city  is  assumed  to  be  a  large  and  legit- 
imate part  of  the  business  of  every  commercial  club. 
This  must  mean,  of  course,  that  smaller  cities  and  towns 
and  the  rural  communities  suffer  accordingly  in  business, 
in  population,  and  in  Hfe. 

Attractive  Forces. — The  attractive  forces  of  the  city 
are  quite  as  numerous  and  powerful  as  the  repellent 
forces  of  the  country.  The  city  is  attractive  from 
many  points  of  view.  It  sets  the  pace,  the  standaM, 
the  ideals;  even  the  styles  of  clothing  and  dress  origi- 
nate there.  It  is  where  all  sorts  of  people  are  seen 
and  met  \vith  in  large  numbers;  its  varied  scenes  ar^ 
always  magnetic.  Both  old  and  young  are  attracted 
by  acti\dties  of  all  kinds;  the  "white  way"  in  every 
city  is  a  constant  bid  for  numbers.  In  the  city  there 
is  always  more  hvehness  if  not  more  life  than  in  the 
country.     Activity  is  apparent  everywhere.     Every- 


THE   URBAN  TREND  21 

thing  seems  better  to  the  young  person  from  the 
country;  there  is  more  to  see  and  more  to  hear;  the 
show  windows  and  the  display  of  Hghting  are  a  con- 
stant lure;  there  is  an  endless  variety  of  experiences. 
Life  seems  great  because  it  is  cosmopohtan  and  not 
provincial  or  local.  In  any  event,  it  draws  the  youth 
of  the  country.  Things,  they  say,  are  doing,  and  they 
long  to  be  a  part  of  it  all.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
mind  and  heart  are  motivated  in  this  way. 

Conveniences  in  Cities. — In  the  city  there  are  more 
conveniences  than  in  the  country.  There  are  sidewalks 
and  paved  streets  instead  of  muddy  roads;  there  are 
private  telephones,  and  the  telegraph  is  at  hand  in 
time  of  need;  there  are  street  cars  which  afford  com- 
fortable and  rapid  transportation.  There  are  Hbraries, 
museums,  and  art  galleries;  there  are  free  lectures  and 
entertainments  of  various  kinds;  and  the  churches  are 
larger  and  more  attractive  than  those  in  the  country. 
As  in  the  case  of  teachers,  the  cities  secure  their  pick 
of  preachers.  Doctors  are  at  hand  in  time  of  need,  and 
all  the  professions  are  centered  there.  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  people,  when  they  have  an  opportunity,  migrate 
to  the  city?  There  is  a  social  instinct  moving  the 
human  heart.  All  people  are  gregarious.  Adults  as 
well  as  children  like  to  be  where  others  are,  and  so 
where  some  people  congregate  others  tend  to  do  like- 
wise. Country  life  as  at  present  organized  does  not 
afford  the  best  opportunity  for  the  satisfaction  of  this 
social  instinct.    The  great  variety  of  social  attractions 


22  THE  URBAN  TREND 

constitutes  the  lure  of  the  city — it  is  the  powerful 
social  magnet. 

Urbanized  Literature. — Books,  magazines,  and  papers 
are  all  published  in  the  cities,  and  most  of  them  have 
the  flavor  of  city  life  about  them.  They  are  made 
and  written  by  people  who  know  the  city,  and  the  city 
doings  are  usually  the  subject  matter  of  the  literary 
output  of  the  day.  Children  acquire  from  these,  even 
in  their  primary  school  days,  a  longing  for  the  city. 
The  idea  of  seeing  and  possibly  of  living  in  the  city 
becomes  ''set,"  and  it  tends  sooner  or  later  to  realize 
itself  in  act  and  in  Ufe. 

City  Schools. — The  city,  as  a  rule,  maintains  excel- 
lent schools;  and  the  most  modern  and  serviceable 
buildings  for  school  purposes  are  found  there.  Urban 
people  seem  willing  to  tax  themselves  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent; and  so  in  the  cities  will  be  found  comparatively 
better  buildings,  better  teachers,  more  and  better 
supervision,  more  fullness  of  life  in  the  schools.  Usually 
in  the  cities  the  leading  and  most  enterprising  men  and 
women  are  elected  to  the  school  board,  and  the  people, 
as  we  have  said,  acquiesce  in  such  taxation  as  the 
board  deems  necessary.  The  cities  secure  the  best  part 
of  the  whole  output  of  the  normal  schools,  compelling 
the  rural  districts  to  take  what  is  left.  Every  city  has  a 
superintendent,  and  every  building  a  principal;  while, 
in  the  country,  one  county  superintendent  has  to 
supervise  a  hundred  or  more  schools,  situated  too,  as 
they  are,  long  distances  apart. 


THE   URBAN   TREND  23 

City  Churches. — Something  similar  may  be  said  with 
respect  to  the  churches.  In  every  city  there  are  several, 
and  people  can  usually  go  to  the  church  of  their  choice. 
In  many  parts  of  the  country'  the  church  is  decadent, 
and  in  some  places  it  is  becoming  extinct.  Even  the 
automobile  contributes  its  influence  against  the  country 
church  as  a  rural  institution,  and  in  favor  of  the  city; 
for  people  who  are  sufficiently  well-to-do  often  hke 
to  take  an  automobile  ride  to  the  city  on  Sunday. 

City  Work  Preferred.  —  Workingmen  and  servant 
girls  also  prefer  the  city.  They  dislike  the  long  irregular 
hours  of  the  country-;  they  prefer  to  work  where  the 
hours  are  regular,  where  they  do  not  come  into  such 
close  touch  with  the  soil,  and  where  they  do  not  have 
to  battle  with  the  elements.  In  the  city  they  work 
under  shelter  and  in  accordance  wath  definite  regula- 
tions. Hence  it  is  that  the  problem  of  securing  working- 
men  and  servant  girls  in  the  country  is  every  day  be- 
coming more  and  more  perplexing. 

Retired  Farmers. — Farmers  themselves,  when  they 
have  become  reasonably  well-to-do,  frequently  retire 
to  the  city,  either  to  enjoy  fife  the  rest  of  their  days  or 
to  educate  their  children.  Individuals  are  not  to  be 
blamed.  The  lack  of  equivalent  attractions  and  con- 
veniences in  the  country  is  responsible. 

Educational  Centers. — As  yet,  it  is  seldom  that  good 
high  schools  are  found  in  the  country.  To  secure 
a  high  school  education  country  people  frequently 
have  to  avail  themselves  of  the  city  schools.     Many 


24  THE  URBAN  TREND 

colleges  and  universities  are  located  in  the  cities  and, 
consequently,  much  of  the  educational  trend  is  in  that 
direction. 

Face  the  Problem.— The  rural  problem  is  a  difl&cult 
one  and  we  may  as  well  face  the  situation  honestly 
and  earnestly.  There  has  been  too  much  mere  oratory 
on  problems  of  rural  life.  We  have  often,  ostrich-like, 
kept  our  heads  under  the  sand  and  have  not  seen  or 
admitted  the  real  conditions,  which  must  be  changed 
if  rural  life  is  to  become  attractive.  Say  what  we  will, 
people  will  go  where  their  needs  are  best  satisfied  and 
where  the  attractions  are  greatest.  People  cannot  be 
driven — they  must  be  attracted  and  won.  If  ''God 
made  the  country  and  man  made  the  town,"  God's  peo- 
ple must  be  neglecting  to  give  God's  country  "such  a 
face  and  such  a  mien  as  to  be  loved  needs  only  to  be 
seen."  Where  the  element  of  nature  is  largest  there 
should  be  a  more  truly  and  deeply  attractive  life  than 
where  the  element  of  art  predominates,  however  al- 
luring that  may  be.  How  can  country  life  and  the 
country  itself  be  made  to  attract? 

Educational  Value  Not  Realized. — People  generally 
have  never  been  able  to  estimate  education  fairly. 
The  value  of  lands,  horses,  and  money  can  easily  be 
measured,  for  these  are  tangible  things;  but  education 
is  very  difficult  of  appraisal,  for  it  is  intangible.  Yet 
it  is  true  that  intangible  things  are  frequently  of 
greater  worth  than  are  tangible  things.  There  are 
men  who  pay  more  to  a  jockey  to  train  their  horses 


THE  URBAN  TREND  25 

than  they  are  willing  to  pay  to  a  teacher  to  train  their 
children.  This  is  because  the  services  of  the  jockey 
are  more  easily  reckoned.  The  effects  or  results  of 
the  horse  training  are  measured  by  the  proceeds  in 
dollars  and  cents  on  the  racetrack,  and  so  are  easily 
realized;  while  the  growth  in  education,  refinement, 
and  culture  on  the  part  of  the  child  is  difficult  indeed 
to  measure  or  estimate.  And  yet  how  much  more 
valuable  it  is!  The  jockey  gives  the  one,  the  teacher 
the  other. 

Wrong  Standard  in  the  Social  Mind. — There  is 
established  in  the  public  mind  of  rural  communities 
the  idea  that  a  teacher  is  worth  about  fifty  dollars  a 
month — frequently  not  so  much.  This  idea  has  spread 
until  it  is  almost  universally  prevalent;  it  has  become 
"set"  or  ''fixed,"  so  that  if  a  teacher  is  being  paid 
seventy-five  dollars  a  month  the  people  are  inclined 
to  think  that  she  is  overpaid  and  that  the  school  board 
is  extravagant.  The  rural  school  problem  will  never 
be  solved  until  this  standard  is  changed  and  raised. 
There  are  men  in  the  United  States  who  are  receiving, 
for  the  performance  of  some  socially  useless  tiling,  larger 
salaries  than  are  paid  to  many  university  professors 
and  presidents  in  the  country.  The  situation  is  mis- 
conceived, relative  values  are  misjudged,  often  in- 
verted or  reversed.  Until  there  is  a  saner  perspective 
in  the  public  mind  and  until  values  are  reestimated, 
the  solution  of  the  rural  school  problem  and  indeed 
of  many  of  the  problems  of  rural  life  is  well-nigh 


26  THE  URBAN  TREND 

hopeless.  Before  a  solution  is  effected  some  sufficient 
inducement  must  be  held  out  to  strong  persons  to 
come  into  the  rural  life  and  into  the  rural  schools. 
These  persons  would  and  could  be  leaders  of  strength 
among  the  people. 

Rural  Organization. — At  present  there  is  little  or 
no  organization  of  rural  life.  Communities  are  chaotic, 
socially,  economically,  and  educationally.  Real  leaders 
are  necessary.  These  must  be  men  and  women  of 
strong  and  winning  personality.  The  rural  teacher, 
if  he  be  a  man  of  power  and  initiative,  can  be  a  real 
savior  and  redeemer  of  rural  life  in  his  community. 
But  leaders  of  this  type  cannot  be  secured  without  a 
reasonable  incentive.  Such  men  will  seldom  sacrifice 
themselves  for  the  organization  and  uplift  of  a  com- 
munity except  for  proper  compensation.  If  teachers 
— or  at  least  the  strong  ones — were  paid  two  or  three 
times  as  much  as  they  are  to-day,  and  if  the  standards 
were  raised  accordingly,  so  as  to  secure  really  strong 
personalities  as  teachers,  country  life  might  be  organ- 
ized in  different  directions  and  made  so  much  more 
attractive  than  at  present,  that  the  urban  trend  would 
be  arrested  or  greatly  minimized. 

Playing  with  the  Problem. — The  possibilities  of  the 
organization  of  rural  life  and  rural  schools  have  not 
yet  been  realized;  as  a  people  we  have  really  played 
with  this  problem.  It  has  taken  care  of  itself;  it 
has  been  allowed  to  drift.  Rural  life  at  present  is  a 
kind  of  easy  social  adjustment  on  the  basis  of  the  mini- 


THE   URBAN  TREND  2^ 

mum  of  expense  and  of  exertion  toward  a  solution.  We 
have  not  realized  the  value  of  genuine  social,  economic, 
and  educational  organization  with  all  the  activities  in 
these  lines  which  the  terms  imply.  We  have 'not 
grappled  with  the  problem  in  an  earnest,  scientific 
way;  we  have  never  thought  out  systematically  what 
is  needed,  and  then  decided  to  employ  the  necessary 
means  to  bring  about  the  desired  end.  It  may  be 
that  the  problem  will  remain  unsolved  for  generations 
to  come;  but  if  country  life  and  country  schools  are 
to  be  made  as  attractive  and  pleasant  as  city  life  and 
city  schools,  the  people  will  have  to  face  the  problem 
without  flinching  and  use  the  only  means  which 
will  bring  about  the  desired  result.  The  prob- 
lem could  be  easily  solved  if  the  people  realized  the 
true  value  of  rural  life  and  of  good  rural  schools. 
Where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way;  but  where  there 
is  no  will  there  is  no  possible  way.  Country  Ufe  can 
be  made  fully  as  pleasant  as  city  life,  and  the  rural 
schools  can  be  made  fully  as  good  as  the  city  schools. 
Of  course  some  things  will  be  lacking  in  the  country 
which  are  found  in  the  city;  but,  conversely,  many 
things  and  probably  better  things  will  be  found  in  the 
country  than  could  be  found  in  the  city. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  REAL  AND  THE  IDEAL  SCHOOL 

This  chapter  will  have  reference  to  the  one-room 
rural  school  as  it  has  existed  in  the  past  and  as  it 
still  exists  in  many  places;  it  will  also  discuss  the 
rural  school  as  it  ought  to  be.  It  is  assumed  that, 
although  consolidation  is  spreading  rapidly,  the  one- 
room  rural  school  as  an  institution  will  continue  to 
exist  for  an  indefinite  time.  Under  favorable  condi- 
tions it  probably  should  continue  to  exist;  for,  as  we 
shall  see,  it  has  many  excellent  features  which  are  real 
advantages. 

The  Building. — The  old-fashioned  country  school- 
house  was  in  many  respects  a  pitiable  object.  The 
^'Httle  red  schoolhouse"  in  story  and  song  has  been  the 
object  of  much  praise.  As  an  ideal  creation  it  may  be 
deser\dng  of  admiration,  but  this  cannot  be  asserted 
of  it  as  a  reality.  The  common  t}'pe  was  an  ordinary 
box-shaped  building  without  architecture,  without  a 
plan,  and,  as  a  rule,  without  care  or  repair.  Frequently 
it  stood  for  years  without  being  repainted,  and  in  the 
midst  of  chaotic  and  ill-cared-for  surroundings.  The 
contract  for  building  it  was  usually  awarded  to  some 
carpenter  who  was  also  given  carte  blanche  to  do  as  he 

28 


THE  REAL  AND  THE  IDEAL  SCHOOL        29 

pleased  in  regard  to  its  construction,  the  only  pro- 
\ision  being  that  he  keep  within  the  amount  of  money 
allowed — probably  eight  hundred  or  a  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  usual  result  was  the  plamest  kind  of  build- 
ing, without  conveniences  of  any  kind.  If  a  blackboard 
were  provided  in  the  specifications  (which  were  often 
oral  rather  than  written),  it  was  perhaps  placed  in 
such  a  position  as  to  be  useless.  In  the  course  of  my 
experience  as  county  superintendent  of  schools,  I  once 
visited  a  rural  school  in  which  the  blackboard  began 
at  the  height  of  a  man's  head  and  extended  to  the 
ceiHng,  the  carpenter  probably  thinking  that  its  one 
purpose  was  to  display  permanently  the  teacher's 
program. 

No  System  of  Ventilation. — No  system  of  ventila- 
tion was  provided  in  former  days,  and  in  some  school- 
houses  such  is  the  condition  to-day.  Nevertheless, 
thanks  to  enterprising  salesmen,  there  has  been  much 
improvement  in  this  direction.  It  used  to  be  neces- 
sary to  secure  fresh  air,  if  at  aU,  by  opening  windows. 
In  some  sections,  where  the  cHmate  is  mild,  this  is 
the  best  method  of  ventilation;  but  certainly,  in  north- 
ern latitudes  where  the  winters  are  long  and  cold,  some 
system  of  forced  or  automatic  ventilation  should  be 
provided.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  assert  that  it  would 
be  an  excellent  plan  to  decide  first  upon  a  good  sys- 
tem of  ventilation  and  then  to  build  the  schoolhouse 
around  it.  Without  involving  great  expense  there  are 
simple  systems  of  ventilation  and  heating  combined 


30  THE  RE.\L  AND  THE   IDEAL   SCHOOL 

which  are  very  efficient  for  such  houses.  In  former 
times,  and  in  some  places  even  yet,  the  usual  method  of 
heating  was  by  an  unjacketed  stove  which  made  the 
pupils  who  sat  nearest  it  uncomfortably  warm,  while 
those  in  the  farther  corners  were  shivering  with  cold. 
With  new  systems  of  ventilation  there  is  an  insulating 
jacket  which  equalizes  the  temperature  of  the  room 
by  distributing  the  heat  and  fresh  air  quite  evenly. 

It  is  strange  how  slowly  people  change  their  habits 
and  even  their  opinions.  Many  are  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  in  an  unventilated  room  each  child  is  breathing 
over  and  over  again  an  atmosphere  vitiated  by  the 
breaths  exhaled  from  the  lungs  of  thirty  or  forty 
others.  It  can  be  truthfully  asserted  that  to  condi- 
tions of  this  kind  the  prevalence  of  much  of  the  sick- 
ness and  disease  among  children  is  due.  Whatever 
it  is  that  makes  air  "fresh,"  and  healthful,  that  factor 
is  not  found  under  the  conditions  described.  Changes 
in  the  temperature  and  movement  of  the  air  are,  no 
doubt,  important  in  securing  a  healthful  physiological 
reaction,  but  air  contaminated  and  befouled  by  bodies 
and  lungs  has  stupefying  effects  which  cannot  be 
ignored.    Frequent  change  of  air  is  essential. 

The  Surroundings. — The  typical  country  school- 
house,  as  it  existed  in  the  past,  and  as  it  frequently 
exists  to-day,  has  not  sufficient  land  to  form  a  good 
yard  and  a  playground  appropriate  for  its  needs. 
The  farmer  who  sold  or  donated  the  small  tract  of 
land  often  plows  almost  to  the  very  foundation  walls. 


THE   REAL   AND   THE   n)EAL   SCHOOL  3 1 

There  are  usually  no  trees  near  by  to  afford  shelter 
or  to  give  the  place  a  homelike  and  attractive  ap- 
pearance. Some  trees  may  have  been  planted,  but 
owing  to  neglect  they  have  all  died  out,  and  nothing 
remains  but  a  few  dead  and  unsightly  trunks.  There 
is  usually  no  fence  around  the  school  yard,  and  the 
outbuildings  are  frequently  a  disgrace,  if  not  a  positive 
menace  to  the  children's  morals.  If  a  choice  had  to 
be  made  it  would  be  better  to  allow  children  to  grow 
up  in  their  native  liberty  and  wildness  without  a 
school  "education"  than  to  have  them  subjected 
to  mental  and  moral  degradation  by  the  vicious  sug- 
gestions received  in  some  of  these  places.  Weak 
teachers  have  a  false  modesty  in  regard  to  such  con- 
ditions and  school  boards  are  often  thoughtless  or 
negligent. 

The  Interior. — Within  the  building  there  is  fre- 
quently no  adequate  equipment  in  the  way  of  apparatus, 
supplementary  reading,  or  reference  books  of  any  kind. 
There  are  no  decorations  on  the  walls  except  such  as 
are  put  there  by  mischievous  children.  The  whole 
situation  both  inside  and  out  brings  upon  one  a  feeling 
of  desolation.  Men  and  women  who  live  in  reasonably 
comfortable  homes  near  by  allow  the  school  home  of 
their  precious  children  to  remain  for  years  unattractive 
and  uninspiring  in  every  particular.  Again  this  is  the 
result  of  ignorance,  thoughtlessness,  or  neghgence — a 
negligence  that  comes  alarmingly  close  to  guilt. 

Small,  Dead  School. — In  many  a  lone  rural  school- 


32  THE   REAL  AND   THE   IDEAL  SCHOOL 

house  may  be  found  ten  to  twenty  small  children; 
and  behind  the  desk  a  teacher  holding  only  a  second 
or  third  grade  elementary  or  county  certificate.  The 
whole  institution  is  rather  tame  and  weak,  if  not 
dead;  it  is  anything  but  stimulating  (and  if  edu- 
cation means  anything  it  means  stimulation).  It  is 
this  kind  of  situation  which  has  led  in  recent  years 
to  a  discussion  of  the  rural  school  as  one  of  the  prob- 
lems most  urgently  demanding  the  attention  of 
society. 

That  Picture  and  This. — Let  us  now  consider, 
after  looking  upon  that  picture,  what  the  situation 
ought  to  be.  In  the  first  place,  there  should  be  a 
large  school  ground,  or  yard — not  less  than  two  acres. 
The  schoolhouse  should  be  properly  located  in  this 
tract.  The  ground  as  a  whole  should  be  platted  by  a 
landscape  architect,  or  at  least  by  a  person  of  experi- 
ence and  taste.  Trees  of  various  kinds  should  be 
planted  in  appropriate  places,  and  groups  of  shrubbery 
should  help  to  form  an  attractive  setting.  The 
school  grounds  should  have  a  serviceable  fence  and 
gate  and  there  should  be  a  playground  and  a  school 
garden. 

Architecture  of  Building. — No  school  building  should 
be  erected  that  has  not  first  been  planned  or  passed 
upon  by  an  architect;  this  is  now  required  by  law  in 
some  states.  A  building  with  handsome  appearance 
and  with  appropriate  appointments  is  but  a  trifle,  if 
any,  more  costly  than  one  that  has  none.    Art  of  all 


THE  REAL  AND  THE  IDEAL  SCHOOL        33 

kinds  is  a  valuable  factor  in  the  education  of  children 
and  of  people  generally;  and  a  building,  beautiful  in 
construction,  is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Every  person 
is  educated  by  what  impresses  him.  It  is  only  ^^dthin 
the  last  few  years  that  much  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  necessity  of  special  architecture  in  school- 
houses. 

Men  of  intelligence  sometimes  draw  up  their  own 
plans  for  a  building  and  then,  having  become  enamored 
of  them,  proceed  to  construct  a  residence  or  a  school- 
house  along  those  lines.  If  they  had  shown  their 
plans  to  an  architect  of  experience  he  would  probably 
have  pointed  out  numerous  defects  which  would  have 
been  admitted  as  soon  as  observed.  Neither  the  in- 
dividual nor  the  district  school  boards  can  afford,  in 
justice  to  themselves  and  the  community  they  repre- 
sent, to  ignore  the  wide  and  varied  knowledge  of  the 
expert. 

Get  Expert  Opinion. — Expert  opinion  should  govern 
in  the  matter  of  heating  and  ventilating,  in  the  kind 
of  seating,  in  the  arrangement  of  blackboards,  in  the 
decorations,  and  in  all  such  technical  and  professional 
matters.  Every  rural  school  should  have  a  carefully 
selected  library,  suited  to  its  needs,  including  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  reference  books.  Such  a  school  should 
provide  free  textbooks  so  that  no  time  may  be  wasted 
in  getting  started  after  the  opening  of  school.  The 
walls  should  be  adorned  with  a  few  appropriate  and 
beautiful  pictures. 

Rural  Life — .-j 


34       THE  REAL  AND  THE  IDEAL  SCHOOL 

Other  Surroundings. — On  this  school  ground  there 
should  be  a  shop  of  some  kind.  The  resourceful  teacher 
would  find  a  hundred  uses  for  some  such  center  of 
work.  The  closets  should  be  so  placed  and  so  devised 
as  to  be  easily  supei-vised.  This  would  prevent  them 
from  being  moral  plague  spots,  as  is  too  often  the 
case,  as  we  have  already  said.  There  should  be  stables 
for  sheltering  horses,  if  the  school  is,  as  it  should  be,  a 
social  center  for  the  community.  There  should  be  a 
flagpole  in  front  of  the  schoolhouse,  from  the  top  of 
which  the  stars  and  stripes  should  be  often  unfurled 
to  the  breeze. 

Number  of  Pupils. — In  this  architecturally  attractive 
building,  amid  beautiful  surroundings  both  inside  and 
out,  there  should  be,  in  order  to  have  a  good  rural 
school,  not  less  than  eighteen  or  twenty  pupils.  Where 
there  are  fewer  the  school  should  be  consolidated  with 
a  neighboring  school.  Twenty  pupils  would  give  an 
assurance  of  educational  and  social  life,  instead  of  the 
dead  monotony  which  inevitably  prevails  in  the  smaller 
rural  school.  There  should  be,  during  the  year,  at 
least  eight,  and  preferably  nine,  months  of  school  work. 

It  Will  Not  Teach  Alone. — But  with  all  of  these 
conditions  the  school  may  still  be  far  from  effective. 
All  the  material  equipment — the  total  environment  of 
the  pupils,  both  inside  and  outside  the  building — may 
be  excellent,  and  still  we  may  fail  to  find  there  a  good 
school.  Garfield  said  of  his  old  teacher  that  Mark 
Hopkins  on  one  end  of  a  log  and  a  pupil  on  the  other 


THE  REAL  AND  THE  IDEAL  SCHOOL        35 

made  the  best  kind  of  college.  This  indicates  an  essen- 
tial factor  other  than  the  physical  equipment. 

I  remember  being  once  in  a  store  when  a  man  who 
had  bought  a  saw  a  few  days  previously  returned  it  in 
a  wrathful  mood.  He  was  angry  through  and  through 
and  declared  that  the  saw  was  utterly  worthless.  He 
had  brought  it  back  to  reclaim  his  money.  The  mer- 
chant had  a  rich  vein  of  humor  in  his  nature  and  he 
listened  smilingly  to  the  outburst  of  angry  language. 
Then  he  merely  took  the  saw,  opened  his  till  and 
handed  the  man  his  money,  quietly  asking,  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eyes  for  those  standing  around, '' Wouldn't 
it  saw  alone?" 

Now,  we  may  have  a  fine  school  ground,  or  site, 
with  a  variety  of  beautiful  trees  and  clumps  of  shrub- 
bery; we  may  have  a  playground  and  a  school  garden; 
we  may  have  it  all  splendidly  fenced;  the  schoolhouse 
may  have  an  artistic  appearance  and  may  be  kept 
in  excellent  repair;  it  may  be  well  furnished  inside 
with  blackboards,  seats,  library,  reference  books,  free 
textbooks,  and  all  else  that  is  needed;  it  may  be  beau- 
tifully decorated;  it  may  have  twenty  or  even  more 
pupils,  and  yet  we  may  not  have  a  good  school.  It 
will  not  "saw  alone";  the  one  indispensable  factor  may 
still  be  lacking. 

The  Teacher. — "As  is  the  teacher,  so  is  the  school." 
Mark  Hopkins  on  the  end  of  a  log  made  a  good  col- 
lege, compared  with  the  situation  where  the  building 
is  good  and  the  teacher  poor.    The  teacher  is  like  the 


36        THE  REAL  AND  THE  IDEAL  SCHOOL 

mainspring  in  a  watch.  Without  a  good  teacher 
there  can  be  no  good  school.  Live  teacher,  live  school; 
dead  teacher,  dead  school.  The  teacher  and  the  school 
must  be  the  center  of  life,  of  thought,  and  of  conver- 
sation, in  a  good  way,  in  the  neighborhood.  The  teacher 
is  the  soul  of  the  school;  the  other  things  constitute 
its  body.  What  shall  it  profit  a  community  to  gain 
a  great  building  and  lack  a  good  teacher?    ', 

If  we  were  obliged  to  choose  between  a  good  teacher 
and  poor  material  conditions  and  environment  on  the 
one  hand,  and  excellent  material  conditions  and  en- 
vironment and  a  poor  teacher  on  the  other,  we  should 
certainly  not  hesitate  in  our  choice. 

A  Good  Rural  School. — Now,  if  we  suppose  a  really 
good  teacher  under  the  good  conditions  described 
above,  we  shall  have  a  good  rural  school.  There  is 
usually  better  individual  work  done  in  such  a  school 
than  is  possible  in  a  large  system  of  graded  schools 
in  a  city.  In  such  a  school  there  is  more  single-minded- 
ness  on  the  part  of  pupils  and  teacher.  These  pupils 
bring  to  such  a  school  unspoiled  minds,  minds  not 
weakened  by  the  attractions  and  distractions,  both 
day  and  night,  of  city  life.  In  siich  a  school  the  es- 
sentials of  a  good  education  are,  as  a  rule,  more  often 
emphasized  than  in  the  city.  There  is  probably  a 
truer  perspective  of  values.  Things  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude are  distinguished  from  things  of  the  second, 
fifth,  or  tenth  magnitude.  This  inability  to  distin- 
guish magnitudes  is  one  of  the  banes  of  common  school 


THE  REAL  AND  THE  IDEAL  SCHOOL        37 

education  everywhere — so  many  things  are  appraised 
at  the  same  value. 

The  Problem. — We  have  tried  in  this  discussion  to 
put  before  the  reader  a  fairly  accurate  picture,  on  the 
one  hand,  of  the  undesirable  conditions  which  have 
too  often  prevailed,  and,  on  the  other,  of  a  rural  school 
which  would  be  an  excellent  place  in  which  to  receive 
one's  elementary  education.  The  reader  is  asked  to 
"look  upon  that  picture  and  then  upon  this."  The 
transition  from  the  one  to  the  other  is  one  of  the 
great  problems  of  rural  life  and  of  the  rural  school. 
Consolidation  of  schools,  which  we  shall  discuss  more 
at  length  in  a  later  chapter,  will  help  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  the  rural  school,  and  we  give  it  our  hearty  in- 
dorsement. It  is  the  best  plan  we  know  of  where  the 
conditions  are  favorable;  but  it  is  probable  that  the 
one-room  rural  school  will  remain  with  us  for  a  long 
time  to  come.  Indeed  there  are  some  good  reasons 
why  it  should  remain.  Where  the  good  rural  school 
exists,  whether  non-consolidated  or  consolidated,  it 
should  be  the  center  and  the  soul  of  rural  life  in  that 
community — social,  economical,  and  educational. 


CHAPTER  IV 
SOME  LINES  OF  PROGRESS 

Progress. — The  period  covering  the  last  sixty  or 
seventy-five  years  has  seen  greater  progress  in  all 
material  lines  than  any  other  equal  period  of  the  world's 
history.  Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  if  a  similar  period  of 
invention  and  progress  will  ever  recur.  It  has  been  one 
of  industrial  revolution  in  all  lines  of  activity. 

In  Reaping  Machines.— Let  us  for  a  few  moments 
trace  this  development  and  progress  in  some  specific 
fields.  Within  the  memory  of  many  men  now  living 
the  hand  sickle  was  in  common  use  in  the  cutting  of 
grain.  In  the  fifties  and  sixties  the  cradle  was  the 
usual  implement  for  harvesting  wheat,  oats,  and  sim- 
ilar grains.  One  man  did  the  cradling  and  another 
the  gathering  and  the  binding  into  sheaves.  Then 
came  rapid  development  of  the  reaping  machine. 

The  "Dropper." — The  most  important  step  was 
probably  the  invention  of  the  sickle-bar,  a  slender 
steel  bar  having  V-shaped  sections  attached,  to  cut 
the  grass  and  grain;  this  was  pushed  and  pulled  be- 
tween what  are  called  guards,  by  means  of  a  rod  called 
the  ''Pitman  rod,"  attached  to  a  small  revolving  wheel 
run  by  the  gearing  of  the  machine.    This  was  a  won- 

38 


SOME  LINES  OF  PROGRESS  39 

derful  invention  and  its  principle  has  been  extensively 
applied.  The  first  reaping  machine  using  the  sickle 
and  guard  device  was  known  as  the  "dropper."  A  reel, 
worked  by  machinery,  revolved  at  a  short  distance 
above  the  sickle,  beating  the  wheat  backward  upon  a 
small  platform  of  slats.  This  platform  could  be  raised 
and  lowered  by  the  foot,  by  means  of  a  treadle.  When 
there  was  sufficient  grain  on  this  slat-platform  it  was 
lowered  and  the  wheat  was  left  lying  in  short  rows  on 
the  ground,  behind  the  machine.  The  bundles  had  to 
be  bound  by  hand  and  removed  before  the  machine 
could  make  the  next  round.  This  machine,  though 
simple,  was  the  forerunner  of  other  important  inven- 
tions. 

The  Hand  Rake. — The  next  type  of  machine  was 
the  one  in  which  the  platform  of  slats  was  replaced 
by  a  stationary  platform  having  a  smooth  board  floor. 
A  man  sat  at  the  side  of  the  machine,  near  the  rear, 
and  raked  the  bundles  off  sidewise  with  a  hand  rake. 
A  boy  drove  the  team  and  the  man  raked  off  the  grain 
in  sufficient  quantities  to  make  bundles.  These  were 
thrown  by  the  rake  a  sufficient  distance  from  the 
standing  grain  to  allow  the  machine  to  proceed  round 
and  round  the  field,  even  if  these  bundles  of  grain, 
so  raked  off,  were  not  yet  bound  into  sheaves. 

The  Self  Rake. — The  next  advance  consisted  in  what 
is  known  as  the  "self  rake."  This  machine  had  a 
scries  of  slats  or  wings  which  did  both  the  work  of 
the  reel  in  the  earlier  machine  and  also  that  of  the 


40  SOME  LINES  OF  PROGRESS 

man  who  raked  the  wheat  off  the  later  machine.  This 
saved  the  labor  of  one  man. 

The  Harvester. — The  next  improvement  in  the  evo- 
lution of  the  reaping  machine — if  indeed  an  improve- 
ment it  could  be  called — was  what  is  known  as  the 
''harvester."  In  this  there  was  a  canvas  elevator 
upon  which  the  grain  was  thrown  by  the  reel,  and  which 
brought  the  grain  up  to  the  platform  on  which  two 
men  stood  for  the  purpose  of  binding  it.  Each  man 
took  his  share,  binding  alternate  bundles  and  throwing 
them,  when  bound,  down  on  the  ground.  Such  work 
was  certainly  one  of  the  repellent  factors  in  driving 
men  and  boys  from  the  country  to  the  city. 

The  Wire  Binder. — Another  step  in  advance  was 
the  invention  of  the  wire  binder.  Everything  was  now 
done  by  machinery:  the  cutting,  the  elevating,  the 
binding,  and  even  the  carrying  of  the  sheaves  into 
piles  or  windrows.  There  was  an  attachment  upon 
the  machine  by  which  the  bundles  were  carried  along 
and  deposited  in  bunches  to  make  the  ''shocking" 
easier. 

The  Twine  Binder. — But  the  wire  was  found  to  be 
an  obstruction  both  in  threshing  and  in  the  use  of 
straw  for  fodder;  and,  as  necessity  is  the  mother  of  in- 
vention, the  so-called  twine  "knotter"  soon  came  into 
existence  and  with  it  the  full-fledged  twine  binder  with 
all  its  varied  impro\'ements  as  we  have  it  to-day. 

Threshing  Machine. — The  development  of  the  per- 
fected threshing  machine  was  very  similar.    Fifty  years 


SOME  LINES  OF   PROGRESS  41 

ago,  the  flail  was  an  implement  of  common  use  upon 
the  barn  floor.  Then  came  the  invention  called  the 
"cylinder";  this  was  systematicaUy  studded  with 
"teeth"  and  these,  in  the  rapid  revolutions  of  the 
cylinder,  passed  between  corresponding  teeth  system- 
atically set  in  what  is  known  as  "concaves."  This 
tooth  arrangement  in  revolving  cylinder  and  in  con- 
cave was  as  epochal  in  the  line  of  progress  in  threshing 
machines  as  the  sickle,  with  its  "sections"  passing  or 
being  drawTi  through  guards,  was  in  reaping  machines. 

The  First  Machine. — ^The  earhest  of  these  threshing 
machines  containing  a  cylinder  was  run  by  a  treadmill 
on  which  a  horse  was  used.  It  was  literaUy  a  "one- 
horse"  affair.  Of  course  the  first  type  of  cylinder  was 
smaU  and  simple,  and  the  work  as  a  rule  was  poorly 
done.  The  chaff  and  the  straw  came  out  together 
and  men  had  to  attend  to  each  by  hand.  The  wheat 
was  poorly  cleaned  and  had  to  be  run  through  a  fan- 
ning-mill  several  times. 

Improvements. — Then  came  some  improvements 
and  enlargements  in  the  cyhnder,  and  also  the  appli- 
cation of  horse  power  by  means  of  what  was  knowTi 
as  "tumbhng  rods"  and  a  gearmg  attached  to  the 
cylinder.  All  this  at  first  was  on  rather  a  small  scale, 
only  two,  three,  or  four  horses  being  used.  But  im- 
provements and  enlargements  came  step  by  step,  until 
the  ten  and  twelve  horse  power  machine  was  achieved, 
resulting  in  the  large  separator  that  would  thresh 
out  several  hundred  bushels  of  wheat  in  a  da}'.    The 


42  SOME  LINES  OF  PROGRESS 

separator  had  also  attached  to  it  what  was  called  the 
"straw  carrier,"  which  conveyed  both  the  straw  and 
the  chaff  to  quite  a  distance  from  the  machine.  But 
even  then  most  of  the  work  around  the  machine  was 
done  by  hand.  The  straw  pile  required  the  attention 
of  three  or  four  men;  or  if  the  straw  were  "bucked," 
as  they  said,  it  required  a  man  with  a  horse  or  team 
hitched  to  a  long  pole.  In  this  latter  case  the  straw 
was  spread  in  various  parts  of  the  field  and  finally 
burned. 

The  Steam  Engine. — Then  came  the  portable  steam 
engine  for  threshing  purposes.  At  first,  however,  this 
had  to  be  drawn  from  place  to  place  by  teams.  The 
power  was  applied  to  the  separator  by  a  long  belt. 
Following  this,  came  the  devices  for  cutting  the  bands, 
the  self-feeder,  and  finally  the  straw  blower,  as  it  is 
called,  consisting  of  a  long  tube  through  which  the 
straw  is  blown  by  the  powerful  separator  fanning-mill. 
This  blower  can  be  moved  in  different  directions,  and 
consequently  it  saves  the  labor  of  as  many  men  as 
were  formerly  required  to  handle  the  straw  and  chaff. 
About  the  same  time,  also,  the  device  for  weighing  and 
measuring  the  grain  was  perfected.  The  "traction" 
engine  has  now  replaced  the  one  which  had  to  be  drawn 
by  teams,  and  this  not  only  propels  itself  but  also 
draws  the  separator  and  other  loads  after  it  from  place 
to  place.  In  all  this  progress  the  machinery  has  con- 
stantly become  more  and  more  perfect  and  the  cylin- 
der and  capacity  of  the  machine  greater  and  greater. 


SOME  LINES  OF   PROGRESS  43 

Not  many  years  ago,  six  hundred  bushels  in  a  day 
was  considered  a  big  record  in  the  threshing  of  wheat. 
Now  the  large  machines  separate,  or  thresh  out,  be- 
tween three  and  four  thousand  bushels  in  one  day. 
Such  has  been  the  development  in  reaping  machines 
from  the  sickle  to  the  self-binder,  and  in  threshing 
machines  from  the  flail  to  the  modern  marvel  just  de- 
scribed. 

Improvement  in  Ocean  Travel. — A  similar  story  may 
be  told  in  regard  to  ocean  traffic  and  ocean  travel. 
Our  ancestors  came  from  foreign  lands  on  sailing  ships 
that  required  from  three  weeks  to  several  months  to 
cross  the  Atlantic.  I  am  acquainted  with  a  German 
immigrant  who,  many  years  ago,  left  a  seaport  town 
of  Germany  on  January  ist  and  landed  at  Castle 
Garden  in  New  York  City  on  the  4th  of  July.  The 
inconvenience  of  travel  under  such  circumstances  was 
equal  to  the  slowness  of  the  journey.  In  those  days 
leaving  home  in  the  old  country  meant  never  again 
seeing  one's  relatives  and  friends.  If  such  conditions 
are  compared  with  those  of  to-day  we  can  readily 
realize  the  vast  progress  that  has  been  made.  To-day 
the  great  ocean  liners  cross  the  Atlantic  in  a  little 
more  than  five  days.  These  magnificent  "ocean  grey- 
hounds" are  fitted  out  with  all  modem  conveniences 
and  improvements,  so  that  one  is  as  comfortable  in 
them  and  as  safe  as  he  is  in  one  of  the  best  hotels 
of  the  large  cities. 

From  Hand-spinning  to  Factory. — Weaving  in  for- 


44  SOME  LINES  OF  PROGRESS 

mer  times  was  done  entirely  by  hand.  Fifty  years 
ago  private  weavers  were  found  in  almost  every  com- 
munity. Wool  was  raised,  carded,  spun,  and  woven, 
and  the  garments  were  all  made,  practically,  within 
the  household.  All  that  is  now  past.  In  the  great 
manufacturing  establishments  one  man  at  a  lever  does 
the  work  of  250  or  500  people.  This  great  industrial 
advancement  has  taken  place  within  the  memory  of 
people  now  living.  And  similar  progress  has  been 
made  in  almost  every  other  line  of  human  endeavor. 

The  Cost. — Very  few  people  realize  what  it  has 
cost  the  human  race  to  pass  from  one  condition  to  the 
other  in  these  various  lines.  Hundreds  and  thousands 
of  men  have  worked  and  died  in  the  struggle  and  in 
the  process  of  bringing  about  improvements.  Every 
calamity  due  to  inadequate  machines  or  to  poor 
methods  has  had  its  influence  toward  causing  further 
advancements  in  inventions  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 

Progress  in  Higher  Education. — Let  us  now  turn 
our  attention  to  the  progress  that  has  been  made  in 
the  field  of  academic  education.  It  is  true  that  many 
of  the  great  universities  were  established  centuries 
ago.  These  were  at  first  endowed  church  institutions 
or  theological  seminaries;  but  the  great  state  uni- 
versities of  this  country  are  creations  of  the  progres- 
sive period  under  consideration.  General  taxation 
for  higher  education  is  comparatively  a  modern  prac- 
tice. The  University  of  Michigan  was  one  of  the 
first  state  universities  established.     Since  then  nearly 


SOME  LINES  OF   PROGRESS  45 

every  commonwealth,  whether  it  has  come  into 
the  Union  since  that  time  or  whether  it  is  one  of  the 
older  states,  has  established  a  university.  There  has 
been  a  great  flowering  out  of  higher  education  by  the 
states.  No  institutions  of  the  country  have  grown 
more  rapidly  within  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years  than 
the  state  universities.  They  have  established  depart- 
ments of  every  kind.  Besides  the  college  of  hberal 
arts  there  are  in  most  of  them  colleges  or  schools  of 
law,  medicine,  engineering  in  its  several  lines,  educa- 
tion, pharmacy,  dentistry,  commerce,  industrial  arts, 
and  fine  arts.  The  state  university  is  abroad  in  the 
land;  it  has,  as  a  rule,  an  extension  department  by 
which  it  impresses  itself  upon  the  people  of  the  state, 
outside  its  walls.  The  principle  of  higher  education  by 
taxation  of  all  the  people  is  no  longer  questioned;  it  is 
no  longer  an  experiment.  The  state  university  is 
rehed  upon  to  furnish  the  country  with  the  leaders  of 
the  future — and  leaders  will  always  be  in  demand,  for 
they  are  always  sorely  needed. 

Progress  in  Normal  Schools. — While  the  state  uni- 
versities have  been  enjoying  this  marvelous  devel- 
opment, nearly  every  state  has  been  establishing 
normal  schools  for  the  professional  preparation  of 
teachers.  The  normal  school  as  an  institution  is  also 
modern.  As  an  institution  established  and  supported 
by  state  taxation  it  is,  as  a  rule,  more  recent  than  the 
universities.  Forty  years  ago  many  good  people  re- 
garded the  normal  school  idea  as  visionary  and  its  reaH- 


46  SOME  LINES  OF  PROGRESS 

zation  as  a  doubtful  experiment.  Indeed  in  one  western 
state,  as  late  as  the  eighties,  its  legislature  debated  the 
abolition  of  its  normal  schools  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  fulfilling  or  accomphshing  any  useful  mission. 
To-day,  however,  no  such  charge  of  inefficiency  can  be 
made.  The  normal  schools,  like  the  universities,  have 
proved  their  right  to  exist.  They  have  been  weighed  in 
the  balance  and  have  not  been  found  wanting.  It  is 
now  generally  recognized  that  those  who  would  teach 
should  make  some  preparation  for  that  high  calling; 
and  so  the  normal  schools  in  every  state  have  demon- 
strated their  "right  of  domicile"  in  the  educational 
system.  It  is  now  generally  recognized  that  teaching, 
both  as  a  science  and  as  an  art,  is  highly  complicated, 
and  that,  if  it  is  to  be  a  profession,  there  must  be 
special  preparation  for  it.  Consequently  the  normal 
schools  of  the  country  have  had  a  wonderful  and  rapid 
development  from  the  experimental  stage  to  that  in 
which  they  have  weU-nigh  realized  their  ideals.  School 
boards  everywhere  look  to  the  normal  schools  for  their 
supply  of  elementary  teachers. 

Progress  in  Agricultural  Colleges. — Similar  state- 
ments may  be  made  concerning  the  agricultural 
colleges  of  the  country.  They  are  modem  creations  in 
the  United  States;  and  with  the  aid  of  both  the  state 
and  the  national  government  they  have  come  to  be 
vast  institutions,  devoting  themselves  to  the  teaching 
and  the  spreading  of  scientific  farming  among  the 
people.     Here  there  is  a  vast  work  to  be  done.     On 


SOME   LINES  OE   PROGRESS  '47 

account  of  the  trend  of  population  toward  the  cities, 
and  on  account  of  the  vast  tracts  of  country  land  lying 
idle,  scientific  agriculture  should  be  brought  in  to  aid 
in  production  and  thus  to  keep  down  the  cost  of  living. 
The  agricultural  colleges  of  the  country  have  a  large 
part  to  play  in  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  rural  life. 

Progress  in  the  High  Schools. — A  similar  development 
characterizes  the  high  schools  of  the  country.  Educa- 
tion has  extended  downward  from  above.  Universi- 
ties everywhere  have  come  into  existence  before  the 
establishment  of  secondary  schools.  Not  only  are  the 
universities,  the  normal  schools,  and  the  agricultural 
colleges  of  recent  origin,  but  the  high  schools  also  are 
modern  institutions,  at  least  in  their  present  sys- 
tematized form.  The  high  schools  of  the  cities  con- 
stitute to-day  one  of  the  most  efficient  forms  of  school 
organization.  At  the  present  time  the  better  high 
schools  of  the  cities  are  veritable  colleges — in  fact  their 
curricula  are  as  extensive  as  were  those  of  the  colleges 
of  sixty  years  ago.  Vast  numbers  attend  them;  their 
faculties  are  composed  of  college  graduates  or  better; 
they  have,  as  a  rule,  various  departments,  such  as 
manual  training,  domestic  science,  agriculture,  com- 
mercial subjects,  normal  courses,  etc.  In  addition 
to  the  traditional  curricula,  the  high  schools,  like  the 
universities,  normal  schools,  and  agricultural  colleges, 
have  kept  pace,  in  large  measure,  with  the  material 
progress  described  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter. 

How  Is  the  Rural  School? — We  have  described  the 


48  SOME  LINES  OF   PROGRESS 

progress  that  has  been  made  in  various  fields  of  the  in- 
dustrial world  and  also  in  several  kinds  of  educational 
institutions.  At  this  point  the  question  may,  with 
propriety,  be  asked  whether  the  rural  school  has  kept 
pace  in  its  progress  mth  the  other  and  higher  insti- 
tutions which  we  have  mentioned.  We  believe  that 
it  has  not.  The  rural  school  is  the  last  to  which  public 
attention  has  been  directed;  it  cannot  show  any  such 
progress  as  has  been  indicated  in  other  directions. 


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THE  ONE-ROOM   SCHOOL 


CHAPTER  V 
A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED  FIELD 

Rural  Schools  the  Same  Everywhere. — The  one- 
room  country  school  of  to-day  is  much  the  same  the 
whole  country  over.  Such  schools  are  no  better  in 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  or  Minnesota  than  they  are  in 
the  Dakotas,  Montana,  or  Idaho.  They  are  no  better 
in  Ohio  or  New  York  than  they  are  in  Minnesota  or 
Wisconsin,  and  no  better  in  the  New  England  states 
than  in  New  York  and  Ohio.  There  is  a  wonderful 
similarity  in  these  schools  in  aU  the  states. 

Nevertheless,  it  may  be  maintained  with  some  plausi- 
bility that  the  rural  schools  of  the  West  are  superior 
to  those  farther  east.  The  East  is  more  conservative 
and  slow  to  change.  The  West  has  fewer  traditions  to 
break.  Many  strong  personalities  of  initiative  and 
push  have  come  out  of  the  East  and  taken  up  their 
abode  in  the  West.  Young  men  continue  to  follow 
Horace  Greeley's  advice.  Sometimes  these  young 
men  file  upon  lands  and  teach  the  neighboring 
school;  and  while  this  may  not  be  the  highest  profes- 
sional aim  and  attitude,  it  remains  true  nevertheless 
that  such  teachers  are  often  earnest,  strong,  and 
educated  persons. 

Rural  Life — 4  aq 


5©  A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED   FIELD 

Not  long  ago  I  had  occasion  to  visit  a  teacher's 
institute  in  a  northwestern  state,  in  which  there  were 
enrolled  350  teachers.  Some  of  these  were  college 
graduates  and  many  of  them  were  normal  school 
graduates  from  various  states.  One  had  only  to  con- 
duct a  round  table  in  order  to  experience  a  very 
spirited  reaction.  Colonel  Homer  B.  Sprague,  who  was 
once  president  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota, 
used  to  say  that  it  always  wrenched  him  to  kick  at 
nothing.  There  would  be  no  danger,  in  such  a  body 
of  teachers  as  I  have  referred  to,  of  wrenching  one- 
self. I  have  had  occasion  many  times  every  year  to 
meet  these  western  teachers  in  local  associations,  in 
teachers'  institutes,  and  in  state  conventions;  and  from 
my  observations  and  experience  I  can  truthfully  state 
that  they  are  fully  as  responsive  and  as  progressive  as 
the  teachers  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

Rural  Schools  no  Better  than  Formerly. — Notwith- 
standing all  this,  it  is  probably  true  that  the  rural 
schools  of  to-day  are,  on  the  whole,  no  better  than 
those  of  twenty  years  ago.  About  that  time  I  served 
four  years  as  county  superintendent  of  schools  in  a 
western  state.  As  I  recall  the  condition  of  the  schools 
of  that  day  I  can  see  that  there  has  been  but  little  if 
any  progress.  Indeed,  for  reasons  which  will  be  stated 
later  on,  it  can  be  safely  asserted  that  there  has  been 
a  deterioration. 

About  thirty  years  ago  I  had  the  experience  of 
teaching  rural  schools  for  several  terms.     Being  ac- 


A  BACKWARD   AND  NEGLECTED   FIELD  51 

quainted  with  my  coworkers,  I  met  them  frequently 
in  teachers'  gatherings  and  in  conventions  of  various 
kinds.  If  my  memory  is  to  be  trusted  I  can  again 
affirm  that  the  teachers  of  those  days  do  not  compare 
unfavorably  with  the  rural  school  teachers  of  the 
present  time.  And  if  the  teacher  is  the  measure  of  the 
school,  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  schools. 

Nor  is  this  all.  About  forty  years  ago  I  was  attend- 
ing a  rural  school  myself.  I  received  all  of  my  ele- 
mentary education  in  such  schools  and  I  am  con\dnced 
that  many  of  my  teachers  were  stronger  personalities 
than  the  teachers  of  to-day. 

Some  Improvement. — It  is  not  intended  here  to 
assert  or  to  convey  the  impression  that  there  has  been 
no  progress  in  any  direction  in  the  rural  schools.  It  is 
the  personnel  of  the  country  school — the  strength  and 
power  of  initiative  in  the  teachers  of  that  day — that 
is  here  referred  to.  Although  there  has  been  some 
progress  in  many  lines  it  has  not  been  in  the  direction 
of  stronger  teachers.  The  textbooks  in  use  to-day  in 
various  branches  are  decidedly  superior  to  those  used 
in  former  days,  although  some  of  these  older  books 
were  by  no  means  without  their  points  of  strength 
and  excellence.  Indeed,  I  sometimes  think  that 
textbooks  are  often  rendered  less  efficient  by  being 
refined  upon  in  a  variety  of  ways  to  conform  to  the 
popular  pedagogical  ideas  of  the  day. 

It  is  no  doubt  true  also  that  there  has  been,  in  the 
last  thirty  or  forty  years,  much  discussion  along  the 


52  A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED  FIELD 

lines  of  psychology  and  pedagogy  and  the  methods  of 
teaching  the  various  branches.  The  professional  spirit 
has  been  in  the  air,  and  there  has  been  much  writing  and 
much  talking  on  the  science  and  art  of  teaching.  But 
it  must  be  confessed  that,  while  this  is  desirable  and 
in  fact  indispensable,  much  of  it  may  be  little  more 
than  a  mere  whitewash;  much  of  it  is  simply  parrot- 
like imitation;  much  of  it  is  only  ''words,  words, 
words."  Far  be  it  from  me  to  underestimate  the 
value  of  this  professional  and  pedagogical  phase 
of  the  teacher's  equipment.  Nevertheless,  when  all  is 
said  and  duly  considered,  it  is  personality  that  is  the 
greatest  factor  in  the  teacher.  A  good,  sound  knowl- 
edge of  the  subjects  to  be  taught  comes  next;  and  last, 
though  probably  not  least,  should  come  the  pro- 
fessional preparation  and  training.  Without  the  first 
two  requisites,  however,  this  last  is,  as  we  said,  nothing 
but  whitewash.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  personnel 
of  the  rural  teachers  everywhere  in  America,  and  also 
their  academic  education,  have  not  been  such  as  to 
afford  an  adequate  foundation  for  professional  training 
and  study. 

Strong  Personalities  in  the  Older  Schools. — As  an 
example  of  strong  personalities  I  remember  one 
teacher  who  in  middle  life  was  recognized  as  a  leader 
in  his  community;  another  one,  after  serving  an  appren- 
ticeship in  the  country  schools,  became  a  prominent 
and  successful  physician;  a  third  became  a  leading 
architect;  a  fourth,  a  lawyer;  a  fifth  went  west  and 


A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED  FIELD  53 

became  county  judge  in  the  state  of  his  adoption; 
a  sixth  entered  West  Point  Military  Academy  and 
rose  rapidly  in  the  United  States  army.  These 
instances  are  given  to  show  that  many  of  the 
old-time  country  teachers  were  men  of  force  and 
initiative.  They  became  to  their  pupils  ideals  of  man- 
hood worthy  to  be  patterned  after.  These  all  taught 
in  one  neighborhood,  but  similar  strong  characters 
were  no  doubt  engaged  in  the  schools  of  surrounding 
neighborhoods.  What  rural  school  of  to-day  in  any 
state  can  boast  of  the  uplifting  presence  of  so  many 
men  teaching  in  one  decade? 
A.  V.  Storm,  of  the  Iowa  State  College,  says: 
"But  we  lack  one  thing  nowadays  that  these  old 
schools  possessed.  Twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  the 
country  schools  were  taught  for  the  most  part  by  men. 
Such  men  as  Shaw  and  Dolliver,  and  a  great  many 
other  leading  men  of  to-day,  were  at  one  time  country 
school  teachers.  They  exercised  a  great  influence  upon 
the  pupils.  They  were  the  angels  who  put  the  coals  of 
fire  upon  the  Hps  of  the  young  men,  gi\'ing  them  the 
ambition  that  made  for  future  greatness.  The  country 
schools  now  are  not  so  good  as  they  were  twenty  years 
ago.  The  chief  reason  is  that  their  teachers  are  not 
so  capable." 

More  Men  Needed. — To  secure  the  best  results, 
there  should  be  fully  as  many  men  as  women  teaching 
in  the  rural  schools.  One  hundred  years  ago  both  city 
and  country  schools  were  taught  by  men  alone.     Now 


54  A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED  FIELD 

the  rural  schools  and  most  of  the  city  schools  are  taught 
by  women  alone.  There  is  probably  as  much  reason 
against  all  teachers  being  women  as  there  is  against 
all  teachers  being  men. 

Low  Standard  Now. — Thirty  or  forty  years  ago  about 
half  of  the  teachers  were  men  and  half  women,  both 
sexes  representing  the  strong  and  the  weak.  The 
schools  of  to-day  are  practically  monopolized  by  young 
girls  from  eighteen  to  twenty  years  of  age  who  have 
had  little  more,  if  any,  than  a  common  elementary 
education.  Some  have  just  finished  the  eighth  grade 
and  have  had  a  smattering  of  pedagogy  or  what  is 
sometimes  called  "the  theory  and  practice  of  teach- 
ing." This  they  could  have  secured  in  a  six  weeks' 
summer  school,  while  reviewing  the  so-called  "common 
branches."  These  teachers  are  holders  merely  of  a 
second  grade  elementary,  or  county,  certificate,  which 
requires  very  little  education.  Almost  any  person 
who  has  taken  the  required  course  in  reading,  writing, 
spelling,  arithmetic,  grammar,  geography,  history,  and 
hygiene  of  the  elementary  school  can  pass  the  usual 
examination  and  obtain  a  certificate  to  teach.  In  some 
states  the  matter  is  made  still  easier  by  the  issuing 
of  third  grade  county  certificates,  and  even,  in  some 
cases,  by  the  giving  of  special  permits.  Indeed,  the 
standards  are  usually  so  low  that  the  supply  of  teachers 
is  far  beyond  the  demand. 

The  Survival  of  the  Unfittest. — Such  is  the  standard 
which  prevails  extensively  throughout  the  country  in 


A  BACKWARD   AND  NEGLECTED  FIELD  55 

respect  to  the  qualifications  of  rural  school  teachers. 
As  poor  coins  sometimes  drive  out  the  better  in  the 
money  world,  so  poor  teachers  holding  the  lowest 
grade  of  certificate  will  often  drive  out  the  better,  for 
they  are  ready  to  teach  for  "less  than  anybody  else." 
The  men  and  women  of  strength  and  initiative  will  go 
out  of  the  calling  into  other  lines  of  work  where  progress 
is  more  pronounced  and  where  salaries  or  wages  are 
higher;  and  so  the  doors  of  the  teachers'  calling  (I  shall 
not  call  it  a  profession)  swing  outward.  The  good 
teachers  desert  us,  or  refuse  to  come,  and  the  rural 
schools  are  left  with  what  might  be  called  the  survival 
of  the  unfittest. 

Short  Terms. — Add  to  the  foregoing  considerations 
the  short  terms  of  service  which  prevail  in  rural  schools 
and  we  have  indeed  a  pitiable  condition.  The  average 
yearly  duration  of  such  schools  in  most  states  is  about 
seven  months — sometimes  less.  This  leaves  about 
five  months  of  vacation,  or  of  time  between  terms, 
when  much  that  has  been  learned  is  forgotten.  Under 
such  conditions  how  is  it  possible  to  give  the  children 
of  these  communities  an  education  which  is  at  all 
comparable  to  that  afforded  by  the  city? 

Poor  Supervision. — Then,  again,  there  is  little  or  no 
supervision  of  country  schools.  The  county  super- 
intendent has  under  his  inspection  from  fifty  to  two 
hundred  schools  and  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  him  to 
give  to  each  the  desired  number  of  \isits  or  to  supervise 
and  superintend  the  work  of  those  schools  in  a  manner 


56  A  BACKWARD   AND   NEGLECTED   FIELD 

that  can  be  called  adequate  in  any  true  sense.  Some- 
times he  can  visit  each  school  only  once  a  year,  or 
twice  at  most,  and,  even  then,  there  may  be  two  differ- 
ent teachers  in  the  same  school  during  the  year;  so 
that  he  sees  each  of  his  teachers  at  work  probably  only 
once.  What  can  a  supervising  officer  do  for  a  school 
or  for  a  teacher  under  such  circumstances?  Prac- 
tically nothing.  The  county  superintendent  is  usually 
elected  to  offfce  by  the  people  and  frequently  on  a 
partisan  ticket;  he  must  keep  on  the  good  side  of 
teachers  and  will  naturally  curry  favor  with  school 
officers  in  order  to  be  reelected.  So  the  super- 
vision or  superintendency  of  country  schools  is  often 
of  small  value  indeed.  Of  course  there  are  many 
exceptional  cases,  but  the  exceptions  only  prove  the 
rule. 

No  Decided  Movement. — The  whole  movement  of 
the  rural  school,  whether  it  has  been  backward  or 
forward,  has  been  too  frequently  without  definite  or 
pronounced  direction.  It  has  moved  along  the  line 
of  least  resistance,  sometimes  this  way,  sometimes  that, 
in  some  places  forward,  in  other  places  backward. 
Time,  circumstances,  and  chance  determine  the  work. 
School  problems  have  been  settled  by  convenience  and 
circumstances.  The  whole  situation  has  been  one  of 
laissez  Jaire.  It  is  only  within  the  past  few  years  that 
people  have  become  interested  in  the  situation.  They 
are  beginning  to  be  impressed  with  the  progress  that 
is  being  made  in  all  other  lines,  not  only  outside  of  the 


A   BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED   FIELD  57 

schools  but  also  in  the  fields  of  higher  and  secondary 
education.  The  rural  school  interests  have  at  last 
begun  to  ask,  "Where  do  we  come  in?" 

Elementary  Teaching  Not  a  Profession. — There  has 
been  as  yet  no  real  profession  of  teaching  in  the  rural 
or  elementary  field.  In  about  one  third  of  the  schools 
there  is  a  new  teacher  every  year;  so  that  every  three 
years  the  teaching  force  in  any  given  county  is  prac- 
tically renewed.  A  profession  cannot  be  acquired  in  a 
day,  or  even  in  twelve  months.  The  work  to  be  done 
is  regarded  as  an  important  public  work,  and  the  public 
is  concerned  in  its  own  protection.  Hence  in  every 
true  profession  there  is  a  somewhat  lengthy  period  of 
preparation  and  a  standard  of  acquirements  which 
must  be  attained.  In  other  words,  a  true  profession 
is  a  closed  calling  w^hich  it  is  impossible  for  everyone 
to  join,  and  which  only  those  can  enter  who  have 
passed  through  a  severe  preparation  and  have  success- 
fully met  the  required  standard.  School  teaching  in 
the  country  is  in  no  sense  such  a  profession.  It  can  be 
entered  too  easily;  there  is  practically  no  period  of 
preparation  and  the  standard  is  placed  so  low  that 
even  those  who  run  may  enter. 

The  Problem  Difficult,  but  Before  Us.— What  shall 
be  done?  The  problem  is  before  the  American  people 
in  every  state  of  the  Union,  The  people  themselves 
have  become  aroused  to  the  situation,  and  this  itself 
is  encouraging.  ]\Iuch  has  been  done  in  some  states, 
but  much  will  be  left  undone  for  the  attention  of 


58  A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED  FIELD 

coming  generations.  The  masses  of  the  people  can 
be  aroused  only  with  difficulty.  The  education  of  an 
individual  is  a  slow  process.  The  education  of  a 
family,  of  a  community,  or  of  a  state  is  slower  still. 
The  education  of  a  nation  or  of  a  race  is  so  slow  that 
its  progress  is  difficult  of  measurement.  Indeed,  the 
movement  of  the  race  as  a  whole  is  so  imperceptible 
that  it  leaves  room  for  debate  as  to  whether  humanity  is 
going  forward  or  backward. 

Other  Educational  Interests  Should  Help. — The 
higher  institutions,  including  the  state  universities,  the 
agricultural  colleges,  the  normal  schools,  and  the  high 
schools,  should  all  join  hands  in  helping  to  remedy  con- 
ditions. Society  has  already,  in  large  measure,  solved 
the  problems  in  the  higher  educational  fields;  those 
institutions  have  been  advanced  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  have  almost  realized  their  ideals.  The  rural 
population  has  helped  them  to  attain  to  these  high 
standards.  As  one  good  turn  deserves  another,  rural 
communities  now  look  to  these  interests  for  aid  in  the 
struggle  to  overcome  the  difficulties  which  confront 
them. 

Higher  Standards  Necessary. — But  before  the  rural 
schools  can  ever  hope  to  make  the  desired  progress, 
higher  standards  must  be  set  by  society,  and  the  teach- 
ers in  those  schools  must  attain  to  them.  The  United 
States,  as  a  nation,  is  far  behind  foreign  countries  in 
setting  such  a  standard.  In  Denmark  and  elsewhere 
a  country  school  teacher  must  be  a  normal  school 


A  BACKWARD  AND   NEGLECTED   FIELD  59 

graduate.  A  few  national  laws  in  the  way  of  standard- 
ization both  in  higher  and  lower  education  would 
produce  excellent  results.  The  old  fear  of  encroach- 
ment upon  state's  rights  by  the  national  government 
has  too  long  prevented  national  legislation  of  a  most 
beneficial  kind  in  the  educational  field. 

Courses  for  Teachers. — In  every  normal  school  in 
the  United  States  there  should  be  an  elementary 
course  of  study  extending  at  least  three  years  above 
the  eighth  grade,  and  the  completion  of  this  course 
should  be  required  as  a  minimum  preparation  for 
teaching  in  any  school  in  the  country'.  This  is  cer- 
tainly not  asking  too  much.  Pupils  who  complete  the 
eighth  grade  at  fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  and  then  go  to 
a  normal  school,  would  complete  this  elementary  course 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen;  and  no  person  who 
has  not  reached  this  age  should  assume  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  care  and  instruction  of  children  in  any 
school. 

The  Problem  of  Compensation. — Were  such  a  stand- 
ard adopted  as  a  minimum,  salaries  would  immediately 
rise.  (We  do  not  often  call  them  "salaries"  but  wages, 
and  probably  with  some  discrimination.)  If  it  is  said 
that  teachers  of  such  qualifications  cannot  be  secured, 
the  answer  is  that  in  a  short  time  things  would  so 
adjust  themselves  that  the  demand  would  bring  the 
supply.  Salaries  in  the  country  must  be  higher  before 
we  can  hope  to  secure  any  considerable  number  of 
teachers  as  well  equipped  and  with  as  strong  per- 


6o  A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED   FIELD 

sonalities  as  those  found  in  the  cities.  It  may  be 
necessary  for  us  to  pay  more  than  is  paid  in  the 
city;  for  if  a  teacher  has  two  offers  at  $65  a 
month,  one  from  a  city  and  one  from  the  country,  she 
will,  without  doubt,  accept  the  city  offer  every  time. 
True,  she  will  have  to  pay  more  for  room  and  board 
in  the  city;  nevertheless  she  will  prefer  to  be  where 
there  are  the  most  opportunities  and  conveniences, 
with  probably  a  better  prospect  for  promotion.  And 
who  can  blame  her?  It  is  probable  that,  in  many 
instances,  country  districts  will  have  to  pay  five  or 
ten  dollars  a  month  more  than  the  city  if  they  wish  to 
secure  equally  strong  teachers.  A  country  district  can 
really  afford  to  pay  more  than  the  city  in  order  to  get 
a  good,  strong  teacher;  for  taxation  in  the  country  is 
usually  lighter  than  it  is  in  the  city.  In  the  city  there 
is  taxation  for  lighting,  for  paving,  for  sidewalks,  for 
police  protection,  and  for  various  other  conveniences 
and  necessities.  The  country  is  free  from  most  of 
such  levies,  and  it  could,  therefore,  afford  to  pay  a 
little  more  school  tax  in  order  to  secure  its  share  of 
the  best  teachers. 

Consolidation  as  a  Factor. — In  the  solution  of  the 
school  problem  consolidation  will  do  much.  This  is 
being  tried  in  almost  every  state  of  the  Uiiion  and  is 
working  in  the  direction  of  progress  with  great  satis- 
faction. We  shall  treat  of  this  more  at  length  in 
a  later  chapter. 

Better  Supervision  Necessary. — Not  only  must  we 


A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED  FIELD  6 1 

have  better  teachers  in  the  country,  but  we  must  have 
more  and  better  supervision.  There  is  no  vahd  reason 
why  country  superintendents  should  be  elected  on  a 
political  platform.  It  is  the  custom  everywhere  to 
choose  city  superintendents  from  among  the  best  men 
or  women  anywhere  in  the  field,  inside  or  outside  of  the 
state.  Such  should  also  be  the  practice  in  choosing 
county  superintendents.  Then,  too,  a  county  should 
be  divided  into  districts  and  more  assistance  given 
the  county  superintendent  in  the  supervision  of  schools. 
In  other  words,  super\'ision  should  be  persistent,  con- 
sistent, and  systematic ;  visits  should  be  more  frequent. 
In  the  city  a  superintendent  or  principal  has  all  his 
schools  and  teachers  either  in  one  building  or  in  several 
buildings  at  no  great  distance  apart.  In  the  latter 
case  he  can  go  from  one  to  another  in  a  few  minutes, 
staying  at  each  as  long  as  he  thinks  necessary.  Little 
time  is  lost  in  travel.  This  is  one  of  the  difficulties 
of  rural  supervision,  and  it  must  be  overcome  in  some 
satisfactory  way. 

A  Model  Rural  School. — It  would  be  a  good  plan 
for  the  state  to  establish  in  each  county  one  model 
rural  school.  Such  schools  might  be  maintained  wholly 
or  in  part  by  the  state,  and  they  would  become  models 
for  all  the  fieighboring  districts.  Children  are  always 
imitative,  and  people  are  only  children  of  a  larger 
growth.  Most  people  learn  to  do  things  better  by 
imitation;  and  so  these  model  state  schools  would 
serve  as  patterns  to  be  studied  and  copied  by  others. 


62  A  BACKWARD  AND  NEGLECTED   FIELD 

The  Teacher  Should  Lead. — The  school  should  be  the 
mamspring  of  educational  and  social  life  in  the  com- 
munity; hence,  only  such  teachers  should  be  employed 
as  are  real  originators  of  activity  in  rural  schools  and 
in  rural  life.  The  teacher  should  be  a  "live  wire" 
and  should  be  ''doing  things"  all  the  time.  He  should 
'  be  the  leader  of  his  community  and  his  people. 

A  Good  Boarding  Place. — A  serious  difficulty  con- 
nected with  teaching  in  the  country  is  that  of  se- 
curing a  good  boarding  place  and  temporary  home. 
This  may  not  be  a  troublesome  problem  in  the  older 
and  well-established  communities,  but  in  the  newer 
states  and  sparsely  settled  sections  the  condition  is 
almost  forbidding.  Half  the  enjoyment  of  life  consists 
in  having  a  comfortable  home  and  a  good  room  to 
oneself.  This  is  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  do 
one's  work  well,  especially  the  work  of  the  teacher. 
Some  of  the  experiences  which  teachers  have  been 
obliged  to  go  through  are  almost  incredible.  Almost 
every  teacher  of  a  country  school  could  give  vivid  and 
pathetic  illustrations  and  examples  of  the  discomforts, 
the  annoyances,  and  the  trials  to  wliich  a  boarder  in  a 
strange  family  is  subjected.  The  question  of  a  ^board- 
ing place  should  be  in  the  mind  and  plan  of  levery 
school  board  when  they  employ  a  teacher  for  their 
district.  It  is  they  who  should  solve  this  problem  for 
the  teacher  by  having  a  good  available  home  provided 
in  advance. 


CHAPTER  VI 
CONSOLIDATION  OF   RURAL   SCHOOLS 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  in  regard  to  what 
is  generally  known  as  the  ''consolidation  of  schools." 
Men  and  women  interested  in  the  cause  of  popular 
education  have  come  to  feel  that  the  rural  schools 
throughout  the  country  are  making  little  or  no  prog- 
ress, and  public  attention  has  therefore  been  turned 
to  consolidation  as  one  of  the  possible  means  of  im- 
provement.   . 

The  Process. — As  the  name  implies,  the  process  is 
simply  the  bringing  together  and  the  fusing  of  two  or 
more  schools  into  one.  If  two  or  more  communities, 
each  having  a  small  school  of  a  few  children,  con- 
clude that  their  schools  are  becoming  ineffective 
and  that  it  would  be  advantageous  to  unite,  each 
may  sell  its  own  schoolhouse,  and  a  new  one  may 
be  built  large  enough  for  all  and  more  centrally 
located  with  regard  to  the  whole  territory.  They 
thus  "consohdate"  the  schools  of  the  several  districts 
and  establish  a  single  large  one.  In  many  portions  of 
the  country  the  rural  schools  have,  from  various 
causes,  grown  smaller  and  smaller,  until  they  have 
ceased  to  be  places  of  interest,  of  activity,  and  of 
life.     Now,  a  school,  if  it  means  anything,  means  a 

63 


64  CONSOLIDATION  OF   RURAL  SCHOOLS 

place. where  minds  are  stimulated  and  awakened  as 
well  as  where  knowledge  is  communicated.  There  can 
be  but  little  stimulation  in  a  school  of  only  a  few  chil- 
dren. The  pupils  feel  it  and  so  does  the  teacher.  Life, 
activity,  mental  aspiration  are  always  found  where 
large  numbers  of  persons  congregate.  For  these 
reasons  the  idea  of  consohdating  the  small  schools 
into  important  centers,  or  units,  is  forcing  itself  upon 
the  people  of  the  country.  Where  the  schools  are  small 
and  the  roads  are  good,  everything  favors  the 
bringing  of  the  children  to  a  larger  and  more  stimu- 
lating social  and  educational  center. 

When  Not  Necessary. — It  might  happen,  as  it  fre- 
quently does,  that  a  school  is  already  sufficiently  large, 
active,  and  enthusiastic  to  make  it  inadvisable  to  give 
up  its  identity  and  become  merged  in  the  larger  con- 
solidated school.  If  there  are  twenty  or  thirty  chil- 
dren and  an  efficient  teacher  we  have  the  essential 
factors  of  a  good  school.  Furthermore,  it  is  rather 
difficult  to  transport,  for  several  miles,  a  larger  num- 
ber than  this. 

The  District  System. — There  are  two  different  kinds 
of  country  school  organization.  In  some  states,  what  is 
known  as  the  district  system  is  the  prevailing  one.  This 
means  that  a  school  district,  more  or  less  irregular  in 
shape  and  containing  probably  six  to  ten  square  miles, 
is  organized  into  a  corporation  for  school  purposes.  The 
schoolhouse  is  situated  somewhere  near  the  center  of 
this  district  and  is  usually  a  small,  boxHke  affair,  often 


A  frame  building  and  adequate  conveyances 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hl^ 

ci^W 

■^^^^^^j 

fc^jMi^^^^m^H^E 

I           1  "ii  ""^'- — 

-'■■  ^ ,  "^"^^ 

A  substantial  and  well-planned  building 
TWO  TYPES  OF   CONSOLIDATED   SCHOOLS 


CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL  SCHOOLS  65 

located  in  a  desolate  place  without  trees  or  other  at- 
tractive environment.  This  school  may  be  under  the 
administration  of  a  trustee  or  of  a  school  board  having 
the  management  of  the  school  in  every  respect.  This 
board  determines  the  length  of  term;  it  hires  and  dis- 
misses teachers,  procures  supplies  and  performs  all  the 
functions  authorized  by  law.  It  is  a  case  where  one 
school  board  has  the  entire  management  of  one  small 
school. 

The  Township  System. — The  other  form  of  organiza- 
tion is  what  is  known  as  the  township  system.  Here 
the  several  schools  in  one  township  are  all  under  the 
administration  of  one  school  board.  There  is  not  a 
school  board  for  each  schoolhouse,  as  in  the  district 
system,  but  one  school  board  has  charge  of  all  the 
schools  of  the  township.  Under  certain  conditions  it  has 
in  its  power  the  locating  of  schoolhouses  within  this 
general  district.  The  board  hires  the  teachers  for  all 
the  schools  \vithin  its  jurisdiction,  and  in  general  man- 
ages all  the  schools  in  the  same  manner  as  the  board 
in  the  district  system  manages  its  one  school. 

Consolidation  Difficult  in  District  System. — The  proc- 
ess of  consolidation  is  always  difficult  where  the  dis- 
trict system  prevails.  Both  custom  and  sentiment 
cause  the  people  to  hesitate  or  refuse  to  abandon  their 
established  form  of  organization.  If  a  community 
has  been  incorporated  for  any  purpose  and  has  done 
business  for  some  years,  it  is  ahvays  difficult  to  induce 
the  people  to  make  a  change.     They  feel  as  if  they 

Rural  Life — 5 


66  CONSOLIDATION  OF   RURAL  SCHOOLS 

were  abdicating  government  and  responsibility.  They 
hesitate  to  merge  themselves  in  a  larger  organization, 
and  hence  they  advance  many  objections  to  the  con- 
solidation of  their  schools.  All  this  is  but  natural. 
The  several  communities  have  been  living  apart 
educationally  and  have  been  in  a  measure  strangers. 
They  have  never  had  any  occasion  to  meet  in  con- 
ference, to  exchange  thought,  and  to  do  business  to- 
gether; hence  they  fear  and  hesitate  to  take  a  leap 
in  the  dark,  as  they  conceive  it,  and  to  embark  upon 
a  course  which  they  think  they  may  afterwards  regret. 
Consolidation  frequently  fails  because  of  false  apprehen- 
sions due  to  a  lack  of  social  organization. 

Easier  in  Township  System. — It  is  quite  otherwise 
where  the  township  system  exists.  Here  there  are  no 
separate  corporations  or  organizations  controlling  the 
various  schools.  The  school  board  administers  the 
affairs  of  all  the  schools  in  the  township.  Hence 
there  is  no  sentiment  in  regard  to  the  separate  and 
distinct  individuality  of  each  school  and  its  patronage. 
There  are  no  sub-districts  or  distinctly  organized  com- 
munities; a  whole  township  or  two  townships  constitute 
one  large  district  and  the  schools  are  located  at  the 
most  convenient  points  to  serve  the  children  of  the 
whole  township.  The  people  in  such  districts  have 
been  accustomed  to  act  together  educationally  as  well 
as  politically,  and  to  exchange  thought  on  all  such 
situations.  Hence  consolidation,  or  the  union  of  the 
several  schools,  is  a  comparatively  easy  matter. 


CONSOLIDATION  OF   RURAL  SCHOOLS  67 

Consolidation  a  Special  Problem  for  Each  District. — 
It  will,  of  course,  be  seen  at  once  that,  in  a  school 
township  where  there  are  several  small  and  somewhat 
lifeless  schools  with  only  a  few  children  in  each,  it  would 
be  desirable  for  several  reasons  to  bring  together  all 
the  children  into  one  large  and  animated  center. 
This  process  is  a  specific  local  problem.  Whether  or 
not  such  consolidation  is  advisable  depends  upon  many- 
conditions,  among  which  are,  (i)  the  size  of  the  former 
schools,  (2)  the  unanimity  of  sentiment  in  the  com- 
munity, (3)  the  location  of  roads  and  of  residences, 
(4)  the  distance  the  pupils  are  to  be  transported,  and 
other  local  and  special  considerations.  The  people  of 
each  district  should  get  together  and  discuss  these 
problems  from  various  points  of  view  and  decide  for 
themselves  whether  or  not  they  shall  adopt  the  plan 
and  also  the  extent  to  which  it  shall  be  carried.  Much 
will  depend  upon  the  size  of  the  schools  and  everything 
upon  the  unanimity  of  sentiment  in  the  community. 
If  there  is  a  large  minority  against  consohdation  the 
wisdom  of  forcing  it  by  a  small  majority  is  to  be  ques- 
tioned. It  would  be  better  to  let  the  idea  "work"  a 
while  longer. 

Disagreements  on  Transportation. — The  problem  of 
transporting  pupils  is  always  a  puzzling  one.  Many 
details  are  involved  in  its  solution  and  it  is  upon  details 
that  communities  usually  disagree.  Most  enterprises 
are  wrecked  by  disagreements  over  small  matters. 
Even  among  friends  it  is  the  small  details  in  manner- 


68  CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL   SCHOOLS 

isms  or  conduct  that  become  with  time  so  irri- 
tating that  friendship  is  often  strained.  Details  are 
usually  small,  but  their  obtrusive,  perpetual  presence 
is  likely  to  disturb  one's  nerves.  This  is  true  in  de- 
liberative bodies  of  all  kinds.  Important  measures 
are  often  delayed  or  killed  because  their  advocates  and 
opponents  cannot  ''give  and  take"  upon  small  points. 
Almost  every  great  measure  passing  successfully 
through  legislative  bodies  and,  in  fact,  the  settlement 
of  many  social  problems  embody  a  compromise  on 
details.  Many  good  people  forget  that,  while  there 
should  be  unanimity  in  essentials,  there  should  be 
liberty  in  non-essentials,  and  charity  in  all  things. 
Many  people  lack  the  power  of  perspective  in  the  dis- 
cussion and  solution  of  problems;  for  them  all  facts  are 
of  the  same  magnitude.  Large  things  which  they  do 
not  wish  are  minimized  and  small  things  are  magnified. 
A  copper  cent  may  be  held  so  near  the  eye  that  it 
will  obscure  the  sun.  Probably  there  has  been  no 
difficulty  greater  in  the  process  of  consolidation  than 
the  problems  involved  in  the  details  concerning  the 
transportation  of  pupils. 

Each  Community  Must  Decide  for  Itself. — The  par- 
ticular mode  of  transportation  must  be  determined  by 
the  conditions  existing  in  each  community.  In  some 
places  the  consoHdated  school  district  provides  one  or 
more  busses,  or,  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  "vans"; 
and  these  go  to  the  homes  of  the  children  each  morning 
in  time  to  arrive  at  the  schoolhouse  before  nine  o'clock. 


CONSOLIDATION  OF   RURAL   SCHOOLS  69 

Of  course,  in  this  case  the  pupils  hving  farthest  from 
tht  school  must  rise  and  be  ready  earliest;  they  are  on 
the  rod..'  for  the  greatest  length  of  time.  But  this  is 
one  of  the  irJnor  discomforts  which  must  be  borne  by 
those  families  and  iheir  children.  All  cannot  live 
near  the  school.  Sometimes  a  different  plan  of  trans- 
portation is  found  to  give  better  satisfaction.  The 
parents  may  prefer  to  bring  their  own  children  to 
school  or  to  make  definite  arrangements  with  nearby 
neighbors  who  bring  theirs.  There  is  no  one  way  which 
is  the  only  way,  and,  in  fact,  several  methods  may  be 
used  in  the  same  district. 

The  Distance  to  Be  Transported. — If  pupils  must  be 
transported  over  five  or  six  miles,  consolidation  be- 
comes a  doubtful  experiment.  Of  course,  the  vehicles 
used  should  be  comfortable  and  every  care  should  be 
taken  of  the  children;  but  six  miles  over  country 
roads  and  in  all  kinds  of  weather  means,  probably, 
an  hour  and  a  quarter  on  the  road  both  morning  and 
evening.  It  could,  of  course,  be  said  in  reply  that  six 
miles  in  a  comfortable  wagon  and  an  hour  and  a 
quarter  on  the  road  are  not  nearly  so  bad  as  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  on  foot  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year. 

Responsible  Driver. — Another  point  upon  which  all 
parents  should  insist  is  that  the  transportation  of 
their  children  should  be  performed  by  rehable  and  re- 
sponsible drivers.  This  is  important  and  most  neces- 
sary.   Under  such  conditions  there  would  be  no  danger 


7©  CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL  SCHOOLS 

of  children  being  drenched  with  rain  in  summer  and 
exposed  to  cold  in  winter,  for  the  vehicles  would  be  so 
constructed  as  to  offer  protection  against  both.  There 
would  also  be  no  danger  of  the  large  boys  bullying  and 
browbeating  the  smaller  children  on  the  way,  as  is 
often  done  when  they  walk  to  school  over  long  and 
lonely  roads;  for  all  would  be  under  the  care  of  a  trust- 
worthy driver  until  they  were  landed  at  the  door  of 
the  schoolhouse  or  the  home. 

Cost  of  Consolidation. — The  cost  of  consolidation  is 
always  an  important  consideration.  Under  the  district 
system  one  district  may  be  wealthy  and  another  poor, 
the  former  having  scarcely  any  taxation  and  the  latter 
a  high  rate  of  taxation.  It  is  usual  that,  in  such  cases, 
the  districts  ha\dng  a  small  rate  of  taxation  are  un- 
willing to  consolidate  with  others.  This  is  one  of 
the  difficulties.  Consolidation  will  bring  about  uni- 
formity of  taxation  in  the  whole  territory  affected. 
This  is  an  advantage  in  itself.  If  the  old  schoolhouses 
are  in  good  condition  there  will  be  somewhat  of  a 
loss  in  selling  them  and  in  building  a  large  new  central 
building.  This  is  another  situation  which  always 
complicates  the  problem.  If  the  old  buildings  are 
worthless  and  if  they  must  be  replaced  in  any  event 
by  new  buildings,  then  the  time  is  opportune  for  con- 
sidering consolidation. 

Even  after  the  reorganization  is  effected,  and  the 
new  central  building  located,  the  cost  of  education, 
all  things  considered,  is  not  increased.     It  is  undoubt- 


CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL  SCHOOLS  71 

edly  true  that  a  larger  amount  of  money  may  be  needed 
to  maintain  the  consohdated  school  than  to  maintain 
all  the  various  small  schools  which  have  previously 
existed.  But  other  factors  must  be  taken  into  account. 
The  total  amount  of  dollars  and  cents  in  the  one  situa- 
tion as  compared  with  the  total  amount  in  the  other 
does  not  tell  the  whole  story.  For  it  has  been  found 
that,  everywhere  in  the  country,  there  is  a  larger  and 
better  attendance  of  pupils  in  the  consolidated 
school,  that  more  pupils  go  to  school,  that  they  attend 
more  regularly,  and  that  the  school  terms  are  longer. 
Therefore  the  proper  test  of  expense  is  the  cost  of  a 
day's  schooling  for  each  pupil,  or  the  cost  ''per  pupil 
per  day."  Measured  by  this  standard  education  in 
the  consolidated  school  is  no  more  expensive  than  in 
the  unconsolidated  schools;  indeed  it  is  usually  less 
expensive.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  society  to  give  a 
day's  education  to  one  child;  then  education  pays  as  it 
goes,  and  the  more  days'  education  it  can  offer,  the 
better. 

More  Life  in  the  Consolidated  School. — No  one  can 
deny  that  in  this  larger  school  there  can  be  more 
life  and  activity  of  all  kinds,  and  a  much  finer  school 
spirit  than  was  possible  in  the  smaller  schools.  Edu- 
cation means  stimulation  and  where  a  great  many 
children  are  brought  together  and  properly  organized 
and  graded  there  is  a  more  stimulating  atmosphere 
and  environment. 

Some    Grading    Desirable. — In    these   consolidated 


72  CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL  SCHOOLS 

schools  a  reasonable  amount  of  grading  can  be  secured. 
It  may  be  true  that  in  some  of  the  large  cities  an 
extreme  degree  of  grading  defeats  education  and  the 
true  aim  of  organization,  but  certainly  in  consolidated 
rural  schools  no  such  degree  of  refinement  need  be 
reached  or  feared.  Grading  can  remain  here  in  the 
golden  mean  and  will  be  beneficial  to  pupils  and 
teachers  alike.  The  pupils  thus  graded  will  have  more 
time  for  recitation  and  instruction,  and  teachers  will 
have  more  time  to  do  efficient  work.  In  the  one- 
room  rural  school  one  teacher  usually  has  eight  grades 
and  often  more,  and  sometimes  she  is  required  to  con- 
duct thirty  or  forty  different  recitations  in  a  day. 
Under  such  conditions  the  lack  of  time  prevents  the 
attainment  of  good  results. 

Better  Teachers. — It  is  also  true  that,  where  a  school 
is  larger  and  attains  to  more  of  a  system,  better  teachers 
are  sought  and  secured  by  the  authorities.  As  we 
have  already  said,  the  cities  now  secure  nearly  all 
of  the  best  trained  teachers,  and  the  country  dis- 
tricts are  compelled  to  take  what  is  left.  But  the 
consoHdated  school  being  organized,  equipped,  and 
graded,  and  representing,  as  it  does,  a  large  com- 
munity or  district,  the  tendency  will  be  to  secure  as 
good  teachers  as  possible.  This  is  helped  along  by  the 
comparison  and  competition  of  teachers  working  side 
by  side  within  the  walls  of  the  same  building.  In  such 
schools,  too,  there  is  usually  a  principal,  and  he  exercises 
the  function  of  selection  and  rejection  in  the  choice  of 


CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL  SCHOOLS  73 

teachers.  All  this  conduces  to  the  securing  of  good 
teachers  in  the  consolidated  center. 

Better  Buildings  and  Inspection. — Similar  improve- 
ments are  attained  in  the  building  as  a  whole,  in  the 
individual  rooms,  and  in  the  interior  equipment. 
Such  buildings  are  usually  planned  by  competent 
architects  and  are  more  adequate  in  all  their  appoint- 
ments. All  things  are  subject  to  inspection,  both  by 
the  community  and  the  authorities.  It  is  natural 
that  such  inspection  and  criticism  \vill  be  satisfied 
only  mth  the  best;  and  so  the  surroundings  of  pupils 
become  much  more  favorable  to  their  mental,  moral, 
and  physical  well-being  than  was  possible  in  the  isolated 
one-room  school  building. 

Longer  Terms. — The  same  discussion,  agitation,  in- 
spection, and  supervision  will  inevitably  lead  to  longer 
terms  of  school.  Whereas  the  one-room  schools  usu- 
ally average  six  and  a  half  months  of  school  per  year, 
the  consolidated  schools  average  over  eight  months. 
This  is  in  itself  a  most  important  gain. 

Regularity,  Punctuality,  and  Attendance. — The  larger 
spirit  and  life  of  the  consolidated  school  induce  greater 
punctuality  and  regularity  of  attendance.  When 
pupils  are  transported  to  school  they  are  always  on 
time,  and  when  they  are  members  of  a  class  where 
there  is  considerable  competition  they  attend  school 
with  great  regularity.  There  are  many  grown-up 
pupils  in  the  district  who  would  not  go  to  the  small 
schools,  but  who  will  go  to  a  larger  school  where  they 


74  CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL  SCHOOLS 

find  their  equals;  and  so  the  school  attendance  is 
greatly  increased.  We  have,  then,  the  advantages 
of  greater  punctuality,  greater  regularity,  and  more 
pupils  in  attendance. 

The  school  spirit  is  abroad  in  the  consolidated  school 
district;  people  are  thinking  and  talking  school.  It 
becomes  the  customary  and  fashionable  thing  to  send 
children  to  school. 

Better  Supervision. — There  is  also  much  better 
supervision  in  the  consolidated  school;  for,  in  addition 
to  the  supervision  given  by  the  county  superintendent 
or  his  assistants,  there  is  also  the  supervision  of  the 
principal,  or  head  teacher.  This  is  in  itself  no  small 
factor  in  the  making  of  a  good  school.  Good  super- 
vision always  makes  strongly  for  efficiency. 

The  School  as  a  Social  Center. — Other  effects  than 
those  above  mentioned  will  necessarily  follow.  The 
consoHdated  school  can  and  should  become  a  social 
center.  There  should  be  an  assembly  room  for  lectures, 
debates,  literary  and  musical  entertainments,  and  meet- 
ings of  all  kinds.  The  lecture  hall  should  be  provided 
with  a  stage,  and  good  moving-picture  exhibitions 
might  be  given  occasionally.  There,  also,  the  citizens 
may  gather  to  hear  pubhc  questions  discussed.  It 
could  thus  become  a  civic  and  social  center  as  well  as 
an  educational  center.  All  problems  affecting  the 
welfare  of  the  community  might  be  presented  here;  the 
people  could  assemble  to  listen  to  the  discussion  of 
pohtical  and  other  social  and  public  questions,  which 


CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL  SCHOOLS  75 

are  the  subjects  of  thought  and  of  conversation  in  the 
neighborhood.    This  is  real  social  and  educational  Hfe. 

Better  Roads. — Not  only  does  consolidation  tend  to 
all  the  above  results  but  it  does  many  other  things 
incidentally.  It  leads  to  the  making  of  better  roads; 
for  where  a  community  has  to  travel  frequently  it  will 
provide  good  roads.  This  is  one  of  the  crying  needs  of 
the  day  throughout  the  country. 

Consolidation  Coming  Everywhere. — Consolidation 
is  now  under  way  in  almost  every  state  of  the  Union  and 
wherever  tried  it  has  almost  invariably  succeeded. 
In  but  very  few  places  have  rural  communities  aban- 
doned the  educational,  social,  and  civic  center,  and 
gone  back  to  their  former  state  of  isolation  and  deadly 
routine. 

The  Married  Teacher  and  Permanence. — In  order 
to  make  the  consolidated  school  a  success,  the  policy  will 
have  to  be  adopted  in  America  of  building,  at  or  near 
the  school,  a  residence  for  the  teacher,  and  of  selecting 
as  teacher  a  married  man,  who  will  make  his  home 
there  among  the  people  whose  children  he  is  to  teach. 
Such  a  teacher  should  be  a  real  community  leader  in 
every  way,  and  his  tenure  of  service  should  be  per- 
manent. Grave  and  specific  reasons  only  should  effect 
his  removal.  With  single  men  and  women  it  is  im- 
possible to  secure  the  permanence  of  tenure  that  is 
desirable  and  necessary  to  the  educational  and  social 
welfare  of  a  school  and  a  community.  This  has 
been  demonstrated  over  and  over  again,  and  foreign 


76  CONSOLIDATION  OF  RURAL  SCHOOLS^ 

countries  are  far  ahead  of  us  in  this  respect.  Such  a 
real  leader  and  teacher  will,  it  is  true,  command  a  high 
salary;  but  a  good  home,  permanence  of  position,  a 
small  tract  of  land  for  garden  and  field  purposes,  and 
the  coming  policy  everywhere  of  an  ''insurance  and 
retirement  fund"  would  offer  great  inducements  to 
strong  men  to  take  up  their  abode  and  cast  their  lot 
in  such  educational  and  community  centers. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  TEACHER 

The  Greatest  Factor. — Now,  although  we  may  have 
a  beautiful  school  campus,  an  adequate  and  artistic 
building,  a  library,  laboratories  and  workshops  with 
all  necessary  physical  or  material  appointments  com- 
plete, we  may  yet  have  a  poor  school;  these  things, 
however  desirable,  will  not  teach  alone.  The  teacher 
is  the  mainspring,  the  soul  of  the  school;  the  "plant," 
as  it  may  be  called,  is  only  the  body.  A  great  person 
is  one  with  a  great  soul,  not  necessarily  with  a  great 
body.  Hence  it  is  that  a  great  teacher  with  poor 
buildings  and  inferior  equipments  is  incomparably 
better  than  great  buildings  and  equipments  without  a 
competent  teacher. 

What  Education  Is. — Education  is  essentially  and 
largely  the  stimulation  and  transformation  of  one  mind 
or  personality  by  another.  It  is  the  impression  of  one 
great  mind  or  soul  upon  another,  giving  it  a  manner 
of  spirit,  a  bent,  an  attitude,  as  well  as  a  thirst  for 
knowledge.  This  is  too  often  lost  sight  of  in  the  com- 
plexity of  things.  Many  people  are  inclined  to  think 
that  educational  equipment  and  machinery  alone  will 
educate.     There  is  nothing  further  from  the   truth. 

77 


78  THE  TEACHER 

Mark  Hopkins  would  be  a  great  teacher  without  equip- 
ment; buildings,  grounds,  apparatus,  and  labora- 
tories will  not  really  educate  without  a  great  person- 
ality behind  the  desk.  There  is  probably  nothing  more 
inspiring,  more  suggesting,  more  stimulating,  or  more 
transforming  than  intimate  contact  with  great  minds. 
Thought  hke  water  seeks  its  level,  and  for  children  to 
come  into  living  and  loving  communication  with  a 
great  teacher  is  a  real  uplift  and  an  education  in  itself. 

As  a  saw  will  not  saw  without  some  extraneous  power 
to  give  it  motion,  neither  will  the  gun  do  execution 
without  the  man  behind  it.  The  locomotive  is  not 
greater  than  the  man  at  the  throttle,  and  the  ship 
without  the  man  at  the  helm  flounders  aimlessly  upon 
the  sea.  Just  so,  a  great  personality  must  be  behind 
the  teacher's  desk  or  there  cannot  be  in  any  sense  a 
real  school. 

What  the  Real  Teacher  Is. — The  true  teacher  is  an 
inspirer;  that  is,  he  breathes  into  his  pupils  his  spirit, 
his  love  of  learning,  his  method  of  study,  his  ideals. 
He  is  a  real  leader  in  every  way.  Children — and  we  are 
all  children  to  a  certain  extent — are  great  imitators, 
and  so  the  pupils  tend  to  become  like  the  teacher. 

The  true  teacher  stimulates  to  activity  by  example. 
Where  you  find  such  a  teacher,  things  are  constantly 
"doing";  people  are  thinking  and  talking  school  all  the 
time;  education  is  in  the  atmosphere.  The  real  teacher 
is,  to  use  a  popular  phrase,  a  "live  wire."  Something 
new  is  undertaken  every  day.     He  is  a  man  of  initiative 


THE  TEACHER  79 

and  push,  and  withal  he  is  a  man  of  sincerity  and  tact. 
While  he  is  retrospective  and  circumspective  he  is  also 
prospective — he  is  a  man  of  the  far-look-ahead  type. 

A  Hypnotist. — The  teacher  is  in  the  true  sense  a 
suggester  of  good  things.  He  is  an  educational  hyp- 
notist. The  longer  I  continue  to  teach  the  more 
am  I  impressed  with  the  fact  that  suggestion  is  the 
great  art  of  the  teacher.  Hence  the  true  teacher  is  the 
leader  and  not  the  driver. 

Untying  Knots. — A  man  once  said  that  the  best 
lesson  he  ever  learned  in  school  was  the  lesson  of 
"untying  knots."  He  meant,  of  course,  that  every 
problem  that  was  thrown  to  the  school  by  the  teacher 
was  "tackled"  in  the  right  spirit  by  the  pupils.  They 
investigated  it  and  analyzed  it;  they  peered  into  it  and 
through  it  to  find  all  the  strands  of  relationship  existing 
in  it.  It  would  be  easier,  of  course,  for  the  teacher 
under  these  circumstances  merely  to  cut  the  knot  and 
have  it  all  done  with,  but  this  would  be  poor  teaching. 
This  would  be  telling,  not  teaching.  This  would  lead 
to  passivity  and  not  to  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
pupils.  And  it  may  be  said  here  that^  constant  and 
too  much  telling  is  probably  the  greatest  and  most 
widespread  mistake  in  teaching.  Teachers  are  con- 
stantly cutting  the  knots  for  children  who  should  be 
left  to  untie  them  for  themselves.  To  untie  a  knot  is 
to  see  through  and  through  a  subject,  to  see  all  around 
it,  to  see  the  various  relations  of  its  parts  and,  conse- 
quently, to  understand  it.     This  is  solving  a  problem; 


8o  THE  TEACHER 

it  is  dissolving  it;  that  is,  the  problem  becomes  a  part 
of  the  pupil's  own  mind,  and,  having  made  it  a  part 
of  himself,  he  understands  it  and  never  forgets  it. 

This  is  the  difference  between  not  being  able  to 
remember  and  not  being  able  to  forget.  In  the  former 
case  the  so-called  knowledge  is  not  a  part  of  oneself; 
it  is  not  vital.  The  roots  do  not  penetrate  beneath  the 
surface  of  our  minds;  they  are,  as  it  were,  merely  stuck 
on;  the  mental  sap  does  not  circulate.  In  the  latter 
case  the  knowledge  is  real;  it  is  alive  and  growing; 
there  is  a  vital  connection  between  it  and  ourselves. 
It  would  be  as  difficult  to  tear  it  from  us  as  it  would  to 
have  our  hearts  torn  out  and  still  live. 

Too  Much  Kindness. — An  illustration  of  the  same 
point  appears  in  the  following  incident.  A  boy  who 
owned  a  pet  squirrel  thought  it  a  kindness  to  the 
squirrel  to  crack  all  the  nuts  for  it.  The  consequence 
was  that  the  squirrel's  incisors,  above  and  below,  grew 
so  long  that  they  overlapped  and  the  animal  could 
not  eat  anything.  Too  many  teachers  are  so  kind  to 
their  pupils  that  they  crack  all  the  educational  nuts  for 
them,  with  the  consequence  that  the  children  become 
passive  and  die  mentally  for  want  of  activity.  The 
true  teacher  will  allow  his  pupils  to  wrestle  with  their 
problems  without  interruption  until  they  arrive  at  a 
conclusion.  If  some  pupil  "goes  into  the  ditch"  and 
flounders  he  should  usually  be  allowed  to  get  out  by  his 
own  efforts  as  best  he  can.  Here  is  the  place  where  the 
teacher  "should  be  cruel  only  to  be  kind." 


THE  TEACHER  8l 

The  Button  Illustration. — Another  illustration  may 
help  to  brin^  to  us  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
really  good  teacher.  When  children,  we  have  all,  no 
doubt,  amused  ourselves  by  putting  a  string  through 
two  holes  of  a  button  and,  after  twirling  it  around 
between  our  thumbs,  drawing  it  steadily  in  measured 
fashion  so  as  to  make  the  button  spin  and  hum.  If 
the  string  is  drawn  properly  this  will  be  successful; 
otherwise  it  will  become  a  perfect  snarl.  This  com- 
mon experience  has  often  seemed  to  me  to  typify  two 
different  kinds  of  school.  In  one,  where  there  is  a 
great  teacher  "drawing"  the  school  properly,  you  will 
hear,  incidentally,  the  hum  of  industry,  for  all  are 
active.  A  school  which  may  be  thus  characterized  is 
always  better  than  the  one  characterized  by  silence  and 
inaction.  A  little  noise — in  fact  a  considerable  noise — 
is  not  inconsistent  with  a  good  school,  and  it  frequently 
happens  that  what  we  call  "the  silence  of  death"  is 
due  to  fear,  which  is  always  paralyzing. 

The  Chariot  Race. — Still  another  illustration  may 
help  to  make  clear  what  is  meant  by  a  good  school  and 
a  good  teacher.  Lew  Wallace,  in  his  account  of  the 
chariot  race,  makes  Ben  Hur  and  his  rival  approach 
the  goal  with  their  horses  neck  and  neck.  He  says 
that  Ben  Hur,  in  getting  the  best  out  of  his  steeds, 
sent  his  will  out  along  the  reins.  A  really  spirited 
horse  responds  to  the  throb  of  his  driver's  hand  upon 
the  rein.  A  good  driver  gets  the  best  out  of  his  horse; 
he  and  his  horse  are  in  accord  and  the  horse  takes  as 

Rural  Life — 6 


82  THE  TEACHER 

much  pride  in  the  performance  as  the  driver  does. 
This  is  analogously  true  of  a  good  school. 

The  schoolroom  is  not  a  complete  democracy — in 
fact,  it  is  not  a  democracy  at  all  in  the  lower  grades; 
it  is  or  should  be  a  benevolent  autocracy.  The  teacher 
within  the  schoolroom  is  the  law-making  body,  the 
interpreter  of  the  laws,  and  the  executor  of  the  laws. 
The  good  teacher  does  all  this  justly  and  kindly, 
and  so  elicits  the  admiration,  the  respect,  and  the 
active  support  of  the  governed.  He  sends  his  will 
out  along  the  reins.  Some  schools — those  with  great 
teachers  in  charge — are  in  this  condition;  they  are 
coming  in  under  full  speed  toward  the  goal,  guided  by 
a  master  whose  will  stimulates  the  pupils  to  the  greatest 
voluntary  activity.  Other  schools,  we  are  sorry  to  say, 
illustrate  the  conditions  where  the  reins  are  over  the 
dashboard  and  the  school  is  running  away,  pell-mell! 

Physically  Sound. — What  are  some  of  the  character- 
istic attributes  or  traits  which  a  masterful  and  inspiring 
teacher  should  possess?  In  the  first  place  he  should 
be  physically  sound.  It  may  seem  like  a  lack  of 
charity  to  say,  and  yet  it  is  true,  that  any  serious 
physical  defect  should  militate  against,  if  not  bar,  one 
from  the  schoolroom.  Any  serious  blemish  or  notice- 
able defect  becomes  to  pupils  an  ever-present  sug- 
gestive picture,  and  to  some  extent  must  work  against, 
rather  than  for,  education.  Other  things  being  equal, 
those  who  are  most  comely  and  most  beautiful  of 
face  and  of  form  should  be  chosen.    Since  children  are 


THE  TEACHER  83 

extremely  plastic  and  impressionable,  and  so  susceptible 
to  the  influence  of  ideas  and  ideals,  beauty  and  perfec- 
tion should,  whenever  possible,  be  the  attributes  of  the 
person  who  is  to  guide  and  fashion  them. 

Character. — A  teacher  should  be  morally  sound;  he 
should  ''ring"  true.  One  can  give  only  what  one  has. 
A  liar  cannot  teach  veracity;  a  dishonest  person  can 
not  teach  honesty;  the  impure  cannot  teach  purity. 
One  may  deceive  for  a  time,  but  in  the  long  run  the 
echo  of  what  we  are,  and  hence  what  we  can  give,  will 
be  returned.  It  is  often  thought  that  children  are 
better  judges  of  moral  defects  and  of  shams  than  are 
grown  people;  but,  while  this  is  not  true,  it  is  neverthe- 
less a  fact  that  many  children,  in  a  short  time,  divine  or 
sense  the  true  moral  nature  of  the  teacher.  Children 
appreciate  justice  and  will  endure  and  even  welcome 
severity  if  they  know  that  justice  is  coupled  with  it. 
They  are  not  averse  to  being  governed  with  a  firm  hand. 
If  pupils  are  allowed  to  do  just  as  they  please  they 
may  go  home  at  the  close  of  the  first  day,  saying 
that  they  had  a  "lovely  time"  and  liked  their  teacher, 
but  in  a  very  few  days  they  will  tire  of  it  and  begin  to 
complain. 

Well  Educated. — We  need  not,  of  course,  contend  at 
any  length  that  a  teacher  should  be  well  educated,  in 
the  academic  sense  of  the  word.  In  order  to  teach  well, 
one  must  understand  his  subject  thoroughly.  It  is 
quite  generally  held  that  a  teacher  should  be  at  least 
four  years  in  advance,   academically,   of   the  pupils 


84  THE  TEACHER 

whom  he  is  to  teach.  Whether  this  is  true  or  not  in 
particular  cases,  the  fact  remains  that  the  teacher 
should  be  full  of  his  subject,  should  be  at  home  in  it, 
and  should  be  able  to  illustrate  it  in  its  various  phases; 
he  should  be  free  to  stand  before  his  class  without 
textbook  in  hand  and  to  give  instruction  from  a  full 
and  accurate  mind.  There  is  probably  nothing  that 
so  destroys  the  confidence  of  pupils  as  the  lamentable 
spectacle  of  seeing  the  teacher  compelled  at  every  turn 
to  refer  to  the  book  for  verification  of  the  answers 
given.  It  is  a  sign  of  pitiable  weakness.  If  a  dis- 
tinction is  to  be  made  between  knowledge  and  wisdom 
a  true  teacher  should  be  possessed  of  the  latter  to  a 
considerable  extent.  He  should  also  have  prudence, 
or  practical  wisdom.  Wisdom  and  prudence  imply 
that  fine  perspective  which  gives  a  person  balance  and 
tact  in  all  situations.  It  should  be  noted  that  there  is  a 
policy,  or  diplomacy,  in  a  good  sense,  which  does  not  in 
any  way  conflict  with  principle;  and  the  true  teacher 
should  have  the  knowledge,  the  wisdom,  and  the  tact 
to  do  and  to  say  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time  and 
to  leave  unsaid  and  undone  many,  many  things. 

Professional  Preparation. — In  addition  to  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  subject  matter  every  teacher  should  have 
had  some  professional  preparation  for  his  work. 
Teaching,  like  government,  is  one  of  the  most  com- 
plicated of  arts,  and  to  engage  in  it  without  any  previous 
study  of  its  problems,  its  principles,  and  its  methods 
seems  like  foolhardiness.    There  are  scores,   if   not 


THE  TEACHER  85 

hundreds,  of  topics  and  problems  which  should  be 
thought  out  and  talked  over  before  the  teacher  engages 
in  actual  work  in  the  schoolroom.  When  the  solutions 
of  these  problems  have  become  a  part  of  his  own  mind, 
they  will  come  to  his  rescue  as  occasion  demands;  and, 
although  much  must  be  learned  by  experience,  a  sound 
knowledge  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  education 
and  teaching  will  always  throw  much  Ught  upon  prac- 
tical procedure.  It  is  true  that  theory  without  prac- 
tice is  often  visionary,  but  it  is  equally  true  that 
practice  without  any  previous  knowledge,  or  theory, 
is  very  often  blind. 

Experience. — In  addition  to  the  foregoing  qualifica- 
tions the  teacher,  in  order  to  be  really  masterful,  must 
have  had  some — indeed  considerable — actual  experi- 
ence. It  is  this  that  gives  confidence  and  firmness  to 
all  our  procedure.  The  young  lawyer  when  he  appears 
at  the  bar,  to  plead  his  first  case,  finds  his  knees  knock- 
ing together;  but  after  a  few  months  or  years  of  prac- 
tice he  acquires  ease,  confidence,  and  mastery  in  his 
work.  The  same  is  true  of  the  physician  and  the 
teacher.  Some  successful  experience  always  counts 
for  much.  School  boards,  however,  often  over-esti- 
mate mere  experience.  Poor  experience  may  be 
worse  than  none;  and  some  good  superintendents  are 
willing,  and  often  prefer,  to  select  promising  candidates 
without  experience,  and  then  train  or  build  them  up 
into  the  kind  of  teachers  they  wish  them  to  become. 

Choosing  a  Teacher. — If  I  were  a  member  of  a  school 


86  THE  TEACHER 

board  iii  a  country  district  where  there  is  either  a 
good  one-room  school  or  a  consohdated  school,  I 
should  go  about  securing  a  good  teacher  somewhat  as 
follows:  I  should  keep,  so  to  speak,  my  "weather  eye" 
open  for  a  teacher  who  had  become  known  to  some 
extent  in  all  the  surrounding  country;  one  who  had 
made  a  name  and  a  reputation  for  himself.  I  should 
inquire,  in  regard  to  this  teacher,  of  the  county  super- 
intendent and  of  his  supervising  officers.  I  should 
make  this  my  business;  and  then,  if  I  should  become 
convinced  that  such  a  person  was  the  one  needed  in 
our  school,  and  if  I  had  the  authority  to  act,  I  should 
employ  such  a  person  regardless  of  wages  or  salary. 
If  after  a  term  or  two  this  teacher  should  make  a 
satisfactory  record,  I  would  then  promote  him,  un- 
solicited, and  endeavor  to  keep  him  as  long  as  he  would 
stay. 

A  "  Scoop." — Sometimes  there  is  considerable  rivalry 
among  the  newspapers  of  a  city.  The  editors  or  local 
reporters  watch  for  what  they  call  a  "scoop."  This 
is  a  piece  of  news  that  will  be  very  much  sought  by 
the  public  and  which  remains  unknown  to  the  people 
or,  in  fact,  to  the  other  papers  until  it  appears  in  the 
one  that  has  discovered  it.  This  is  analogous  to  what 
I  should  try  to  do  in  securing  a  teacher:  I  should  try 
to  get  a  veritable  educational  "scoop"  on  all  the  other 
districts  of  the  surrounding  country.  The  only  way 
to  secure  such  persons  is  for  some  individual  or  for  the 
school  board  to  make  this  a  specific  business.    In  the 


THE  TEACHER  87 

country  districts  this  might  be  done  by  one  of  the 
leading  directors;  in  a  consolidated  school,  by  the 
principal  or  superintendent.  If  it  is  true  that  "as 
the  teacher  so  is  the  school,"  it  is  likewise  true  that 
as  is  the  principal  or  superintendent  so  are  the  teachers. 

What  Makes  the  Difference. — It  will  be  found  that 
a  small  difference  in  salary  will  frequently  make  all 
the  difference  between  a  worthless  and  an  excellent 
teacher.  It  is  often  the  ten  or  fifteen  dollars  a  month 
additional  which  secures  the  prize  teacher;  and  so  I 
should  make  the  difference  in  salary  a  secondary  con- 
sideration; for,  after  all,  the  difference  amounts  to 
very  little  in  the  taxation  on  the  whole  community. 

A  Question  of  Teachers.— The  question  of  teachers 
is  the  real  problem  in  education,  from  the  primary 
school  to  the  great  universities.  It  is  the  poor  teaching 
of  poor  teachers  everywhere  that  sets  at  naught  the 
processes  of  education;  and  when  the  American  people, 
and  especially  the  rural  people,  realize  that  this  is  the 
heart  and  center  of  their  problem,  and  when  they 
realize  also  that  the  difference,  financially,  between  a 
poor  teacher  and  a  good  one  is  so  small,  they  will  rise 
to  the  occasion  and  proceed  to  a  correct  solution  of 
their  problem. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  THREE  INSEPARABLES 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  discussed  the  type  of 
person  that  should  be  in  evidence  everywhere  in  the 
teaching  profession.  Such  a  type  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  attainment  of  genuine  success.  It  does 
not  exist  in  a  very  large  proportion  in  the  rural  schools 
nor  yet  in  the  whole  field  of  elementary  and,  indeed, 
of  secondary  and  higher  education.  It  is  of  infrequent 
occurrence  even  in  the  colleges  or  universities,  and 
hence  it  is  that  the  teacher  and  the  professor  have  been 
so  often  caricatured  to  their  discredit.  There  is  usu- 
ally some  truth  underlying  a  caricature;  a  cartoon 
would  lack  point  if  it  did  not  possess  a  substratum  of 
fact. 

The  "  Mode." — Now,  there  is  established  in  the 
public  mind  this  type  of  teacher;  and  when  an  idea  or 
an  ideal,  however  low,  becomes  once  established,  it  is 
changed  only  with  difficulty.  This  commonplace  in- 
dividual, this  mediocre  type  of  man  or  of  woman,  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  a  fairly  typical  representative  of 
what  the  teacher  usually  is;  or,  as  the  statistician  would 
express  it,  he  is  the  "mode"  rather  than  the  average. 
The  "mode"  in  any  class  of  objects  or  of  individuals 

88 


THE  THREE  INSEPARABLES  89 

is  the  one  that  occurs  oftenest,  the  one  most  frequently 
met  with.  And  so  this  inactive,  nondescript  sort  of 
person  is  often  thought  of  as  the  typical  teacher.  He 
has  no  very  high  standing  either  financially  or  so- 
cially, and  so  has  no  great  influence  on  the  individuals 
around  him  or  on  the  community  in  general.  This 
conception  has  become  so  well  established  in  the 
public  mind,  and  is  so  frequently  met  ^\^th,  that  all 
teachers  are  regarded  as  being  of  the  same  type.  The 
better  teachers,  the  strong  personalities,  are  brought 
into  this  same  class  and  must  suffer  the  consequences. 

The  "Mode"  in  Labor. — This  same  process  of 
classifying  individuals  may  be  seen  in  other  spheres 
also.  In  some  sections  of  the  country  it  is  the 
method  of  estimating  the  worth  of  laboring  men; 
all  in  the  same  class  are  considered  equal;  all  of  a  class 
are  reduced  to  the  same  level  and  paid  the  same  wages. 
One  man  can  do  and  often  does  the  work  of  two  or 
three  men,  and  does  it  better;  yet  he  must  labor  for 
the  same  common  wage. 

The  "Mode'*  in  Educational  Institutions. — The 
same  is  to  a  great  extent  true  of  the  popular  estimate 
of  educational  institutions.  In  the  public  mind  an 
institution  is  merely  an  "institution."  One  is  thought 
of  as  doing  practically  the  same  work  as  another; 
so  when  institutions  come  before  legislatures  for 
financial  recognition  in  the  way  of  appropriations,  one 
institution  is  considered  as  deserving  as  another.  The 
great  public  is  not  keen  in  its  discriminations,  whether 


90  THE  THREE  INSEPARABLES 

it  be  a  case  of  educational  institutions,  of  laboring 
men,  or  of  teachers. 

No  "Profession." — The  fact  is  that,  throughout  the 
lower  ranks  of  the  teachers'  calling,  there  is  really  no 
profession.  The  personality  of  those  engaged  in  the 
work  is  too  ordinary  to  professionalize  any  calling. 

Weak  Personalities. — This  condition  of  affairs  has 
grown  partly  out  of  the  fact  that  we  have  not,  in  the 
different  states  and  in  the  country  at  large,  a  sufficiently 
high  standard.  The  examinations  are  not  sufficiently 
extensive  and  intensive  to  separate  the  sheep  from  the 
goats.  The  unqualified  thus  rush  in  and  drive  out  the 
qualified,  for  the  efficient  cannot  compete  with  the 
inefficient.  The  calling  is  in  no  sense  a  "closed"  pro- 
fession, and  consequently  in  the  lower  ranks  it  is 
scarcely  a  profession  at  all. 

Low  Standard. — There  is  also  established  in  the 
public  mind  a  certain  standard,  or  test,  for  common 
school  teaching.  This  standard  has  been  current 
so  long  that  it  has  become  quite  stable,  and  it  seems 
almost  impossible  to  change  it.  As  in  the  case  of  some 
individuals  when  they  become  possessed  of  an  idea, 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  dispossess  the  social  mind  of 
this  low  standard. 

The  Norm  of  Wages  Too  Low. — In  regard  to  the 
wages  of  teachers  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  fixed 
in  the  social  mind  also,  a  certain  norm.  As  in  the  case 
of  personality  and  of  standard  qualifications,  a  certain 
amount  of  wages  has  long  been  regarded  as  representing 


THE  THREE   INSEPARABLES  9 1 

the  sum  which  a  teacher  ought  to  receive.  For  rural 
schools  this  is  probably  about  fifty  dollars  a  month ;  in 
fact,  in  most  states  the  average  wage  paid  to  rural 
school  teachers  is  below  that  amount.  But  let  us  say 
that  fifty  dollars  is  the  amount  that  has  become 
established  in  the  popular  mind  as  a  reasonable  salary. 
Here,  as  in  the  other  cases,  it  is  very  difficult  to  change 
ideas  established  by  long  custom.  For  many  years 
people  have  been  accustomed  to  think  of  teachers 
recei\ang  certain  salaries,  and  they  refuse  to  consider 
any  higher  sums  as  appropriate.  This,  of  course,  is  an 
egregious  blunder.  The  rural  schools  can  never  be 
lifted  above  their  present  plane  of  inefficiency  until 
these  three  conceptions,  (i)  that  of  personality,  (2) 
that  of  standard,  and,  (3)  that  of  wages,  are  revised  in 
the  public  mind.  There  will  have  to  be  a  great  revolu- 
tion in  the  thought  of  the  people  in  regard  to  these 
inseparable  things. 

The  Inseparables. — The  fact  is  that,  (i)  strong  per- 
sonalities, (2)  a  high  standard  of  qualifications,  (3) 
and  a  respectable  salary  go  hand  in  hand.  They  rise 
and  fall  together;  they  are  reactive,  one  upon  the 
other.  The  strong  personality  implies  the  ability  to 
meet  a  high  standard  and  demands  reasonable  com- 
pensation. The  same  is  true  of  the  high  standard — 
it  selects  the  strong  personality  and  this  in  turn  cannot 
be  secured  except  at  a  good  salary.  It  may  be  main- 
tained that  if  school  boards  really  face  the  ques- 
tion in  earnest,  and  are  willing  to  offer  good  salaries, 


92  THE  THREE  INSEPARABLES 

strong  personalities  who  are  able  to  meet  that  high 
standard  can  always  be  secured.  Professor  Hugo 
MUnsterberg  says:  "Our  present  civilization  shows 
that  in  every  country  really  decisive  achievement  is 
found  only  in  those  fields  which  draw  the  strongest 
minds,  and  that  they  are  drawn  only  where  the  greatest 
premiums  are  tempting  them."  ^ 

Raise  the  Standard  First. — The  best  way,  then,  to 
attack  the  problem  is,  first,  to  raise  the  standard. 
This  will  eliminate  inferior  teachers  and  retain  or 
attract  those  of  superior  qualifications.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  we  have  not,  in  the  United  States, 
a  more  uniform  standard  for  teaching  in  the  common 
schools.  Each  state  has  its  own  laws,  its  own  stand- 
ard. It  would  not,  we  think,  be  asking  too  much 
to  provide  that  no  person  should  teach  in  any  grade 
of  school,  rural  or  elementary,  in  the  United  States, 
unless  such  person  has  had  a  course  for  teachers 
equivalent  to  at  least  three  years  of  work  in  the  high 
school  or  normal  school,  with  pedagogical  preparation 
and  training.  In  fact,  a  national  law  making  such  a 
uniform  standard  among  the  teachers  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  country  would  be  an  advantage.  But 
this  is  probably  more  than  we  can  expect  in  the  near 
future.  As  it  is,  there  should  be  a  conference  of  the 
educational  authorities  in  each  state  to  agree  upon  a 
standard  for  teaching,  with  a  view  to  uniform  state 
legislation. 

1  Psychology  and  Social  Sanity,  p.  82. 


THE  THREE  INSEPARABLES 


93 


More  Men. — One  of  the  great  needs  of  the  caUing 
is  more  men.  There  was  a  time  when  all  teachers  were 
men;  now  nearly  all  teachers  are  women.  There  is  as 
much  reason  for  one  condition  as  for  the  other.  With- 
out going  into  an  analysis  of  the  situation  or  the 
causes  which  make  it  desirable  that  there  should  be 
more  men  in  the  teaching  profession,  it  is,  we  think, 
generally  granted  that  the  conditions  would  be  better, 
educationally,  socially,  and  every  other  way,  if  the 
number  of  men  and  women  in  the  work  were  about 
evenly  divided. 

Cooperation  Needed. — Educational  movements  and 
influences  have  spread  downward  and  outward  from 
above.  The  great  universities  of  the  world  were 
established  before  the  secondary  and  elementary  school 
systems  came  into  existence.  Thought  settles  down 
from  leaders  who  are  in  high  places.  We  have  shown 
in  a  former  chapter  that  the  state  universities,  the 
agricultural  colleges,  the  normal  schools,  and  the  high 
schools  have  had  a  wonderful  development  within  the 
last  generation,  while  the  rural  school  has  remained 
practically  at  a  standstill.  The  country  districts  have 
helped  to  support  in  every  way  the  development  of 
the  higher  schools;  now  an  excellent  opportunity 
presents  itself  for  all  the  higher  and  secondary  educa- 
tional influences  to  unite  in  helping  to  solve  the  rural 
school  problem. 

The  Supply. — The  ciuestion  is  sometimes  asked 
whether  the  right  kind  of  teachers  can  be  secured,  if 


94  THE  THREE  INSEPARABLES 

higher  salaries  are  offered.  There  can  be  no  doubt  at 
all  on  this  point.  Where  the  demand  exists  and  where 
there  is  sufficient  inducement  offered,  the  supply  is 
always  forthcoming.  Men  are  always  at  hand  to  engage 
in  the  most  menial  and  even  the  most  dangerous 
occupations  if  a  sufficient  reward,  financial  or  other- 
wise, is  offered.  For  high  wages  men  are  induced  to 
work  in  factories  where  mercury  must  be  handled  and 
where  it  is  well  known  that  life  is  shortened  many  years 
as  a  consequence.  Men  are  secured  to  work  long  hours 
in  the  presence  of  red-hot  blast  furnaces  and  in  the  low- 
est depths  of  the  holds  of  ships.  Can  it  be  possible 
that  with  a  reasonable  salary  the  strongest  kind  of 
men  would  not  be  attracted  to  a  calling  that  has  as 
many  points  of  interest  and  as  many  attractions  as 
teaching? 

Make  It  Fashionable. — A  great  deal  depends  upon 
making  any  work  or  any  calling  fashionable.  All 
that  is  needed  is  for  the  tide  to  turn  in  that  direction. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  salary  will  stop  the 
outward  tide  and  cause  it  to  set  in  the  other  direction ; 
but  one  thing  is  certain,  we  shall  never  completely 
solve  the  rural  school  problem  until  the  tide  turns. 

The  Retirement  System. — Strong  personalities  will, 
then,  help  to  make  teaching  attractive  and  fashionable, 
as  well  as  effectual.  There  is  a  movement  now  be- 
coming quite  extensive  which  will  also  add  to  the 
attractiveness  of  the  teacher's  calling.  A  system  or 
plan  of  insurance  and  retirement  is  now  being  in- 


THE  THREE  INSEPARABLES  95 

stalled  in  many  states  for  the  benefit  of  teachers 
who  become  incapacitated  or  who  have  taught  a  cer- 
tain period  of  time.  This  plan  gives  a  feeling  of  con- 
tentment, and  also  a  feeling  of  security  against  the 
stress  and  needs  of  old  age,  which  will  do  much  to 
hold  strong  people  in  the  profession.  The  fear  of 
being  left  penniless  in  later  life  and  dependent  upon 
others  or  upon  the  state,  induces,  without  doubt, 
a  great  many  persons  to  leave  a  calling  so  poorly  paid, 
in  order  that  they  may,  in  more  generous  vocations, 
lay  something  by  for  "a  rainy  day."  The  truth  of 
this  is  borne  in  upon  us  more  strongly  when  we  re- 
member that  teaching  is  different  from  law,  medicine, 
or  other  professions.  In  these  vocations  a  man's  serv- 
ice usually  becomes  more  and  more  in  demand  as  he 
advances  in  years,  on  account  of  the  reputation  and 
experience  he  has  gained;  while  in  teaching,  when  a 
person  arrives  at  the  middle  line  of  life  or  after,  school 
boards  begin  to  say  and  to  think  that  he  is  getting  too 
old  for  the  schoolroom,  and  so  they  seek  for  younger 
talent.  The  consequence  is  that  the  good  and  faithful 
public  servant  who  has  given  the  best  years  of  his  life 
to  the  education  of  the  young  is  left  stranded  in  old 
age  without  an  occupation  and  without  money.  The 
insurance  and  retirement  fund  plan  is  a  movement  in 
the  right  direction  and  will  do  something  to  help  turn 
the  tide  of  strong  personalities  toward  the  teachers' 
calling. 

Similar  Problem  in  the  Church. — The  church  in  its 


96  THE  THREE   INSEPARABLES 

various  denominations  is  confronted  with  a  similar 
problem.  Time  was  when  the  ministry  was  an  attrac- 
tive and,  in  fact,  a  fashionable  calling.  During  a  long 
period,  education  was  for  the  most  part  a  preparation 
for  the  ministry.  In  our  day  the  doors  of  the  min- 
istry, like  the  doors  of  the  teaching  profession,  swing 
out;  and  if  the  strong  personalities  do  not  leave,  at 
least  the  strong  ones  outside  are  not  attracted  to  it. 

City  and  Country  Salaries — Effects. — The  average 
salary  for  rural  school  teachers  in  one  state  I  find  to 
be  $45  a  month.  In  that  same  state  the  average 
salary  of  teachers  in  the  city  and  town  schools  is  $55 
a  month.  Now,  under  such  conditions,  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  secure  a  good  corps  of  teachers  for  the 
rural  schools.  If  the  ratio  were  reversed  and  the 
rural  schools  paid  $55  a  month,  while  the  cities  and 
towns  paid  only  $45,  there  would  be  more  chance  of 
each  securing  teachers  of  equal  ability.  Even  then, 
teachers  would  go  to  the  city  at  the  lower  salary  on 
account  of  the  additional  attractions  and  conveniences 
and  the  additional  facilities  and  opportunities  of 
every  kind  for  self-improvement. 

In  the  state  referred  to,  the  average  salary  of  all 
teachers  in  the  common  schools  was  $51  a  month. 
It  is  utterly  impossible  to  realize  a  "profession"  on 
such  a  financial  basis  as  this.  Forty-five  or  fifty 
dollars  a  month  for  rural  teachers  is  altogether  too 
low.  This  must  be  raised  fifty,  if  not  one  hundred  per 
cent,  in  order  that  a  beginning  may  be  made  in  the 


THE  THREE   INSEPARABLES  97 

solution  of  the  rural  school  problem.  Where  $50  a 
month  seems  to  be  the  going  wage,  if  school  boards 
would  offer  $75  and  then  see  to  it  that  the  persons 
whom  they  hire  are  efficient,  an  attempt  at  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  in  that  district  or  neighborhood 
would  be  made.  Is  it  possible  that  any  good,  strong, 
educated,  and  cultured  person  can  be  secured  for  less 
than  $75  a  month?  If  in  such  a  district  there  were 
eight  months  of  school  this  would  mean  only  8  x  $25, 
or  $200  more  than  had  been  paid  previously.  For  ten 
sections  of  land  this  would  mean  about  $20  a  section, 
or  $5  a  quarter  section,  in  addition  to  what  they  had 
been  paying  with  little  or  no  results. 

This  sum  often  represents  the  difference  between  a 
poor  school  and  a  good  school.  With  a  fifty-dollar 
teacher,  nothing  worth  while  was  done.  There  was 
no  activity  in  the  neighborhood;  the  pupils  or  the 
people  had  not  been  waked  up.  There  had  been  no 
talking  and  no  thinking  of  education  or  of  schools, 
no  reading,  or  talking  about  books,  about  education, 
about  things  of  the  higher  life.  Under  the  seventy- 
five-dollar  teacher  all  this  is  changed. 

The  Solution  Demands  More. — Instead  of  $75,  a 
community  should  pay  to  a  wide-awake  person  who 
takes  hold  of  a  situation  in  a  neighborhood  and  keeps 
things  moving  at  least  $100  a  month.  With  nine 
months'  school  this  would  mean  $900;  and  it  is  strange, 
indeed,  if  a  person  in  the  prime  of  life  who  has  spent 
many  years  in  the  preparation  of  his  work,  and  who 

Rural  Life — 7 


98  THE  THREE  INSEPARABLES 

lias  initiative  and  push,  is  not  worth  $ioo  a  month  for 
nine  months  in  the  year.  To  such  a  person  the  people 
of  that  neighborhood  intrust  their  dearest  and  priceless 
possessions — their  own  children.  If  we  remember 
that,  as  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  is  inclined,  there 
need  be  no  hesitation  about  the  value  of  efficient  teach- 
ing during  the  plastic  period  of  childhood.  In  fact, 
it  may  easily  be  maintained  that  the  salary  should 
be  even  higher  than  this.  But,  if  this  be  so,  how  far 
are  we  at  present  from  even  a  beginning  of  the  solution 
of  our  rural  school  problem! 

A  Good  School  Board. — A  good  school  board  is  one 
whose  members  are  alive  to  their  duties  and  wide- 
awake to  the  problems  of  education.  They  are  men  or 
women  who  have  an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  situation 
and  who  will  earnestly  attempt  to  solve  the  educa- 
tional problems  of  school  and  of  life  in  their  community. 

Board  and  Teacher. — If  a  poor  teacher  and  a  good 
school  board  are  brought  together  the  chances  are  that 
they  will  soon  part  company.  A  good  school  board  will 
not  retain  a  poor  teacher  longer  than  it  is  compelled 
to.  A  poor  school  board  and  a  good  teacher  will 
also  part  company,  for  the  good  teacher  will  not  stay 
with  it;  he  will  leave  and  find  relief  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. Under  a  poor  school  board  and  a  poor  teacher 
nothing  will  be  done;  the  children,  instead  of  being  edu- 
cated, will  be  de-educated.  Quarrels  and  dissensions 
will  be  created  in  the  neighborhood  and  a  miserable 
condition,  educationally  and  socially,  will  prevail.     If 


THE  THREE   INSEPARABLES  99 

a  good  school  board  and  a  good  teacher  join  hands, 
the  problem  is  solved,  or  at  least  is  in  a  fair  way 
to  being  solved.  This  last  condition  will  mean  an 
interested  school,  a  united  neighborhood,  a  live,  wide- 
awake, and  happy  community. 

The  Ideal. — It  is  as  impossible  to  describe  a  suc- 
cessful solution  of  the  problems  of  any  particular 
school  as  it  is  to  paint  the  lily,  the  rose,  or  the  rainbow. 
All  are  equally  indescribable  and  intangible,  but  never- 
theless the  more  real,  potent,  and  inspiring  on  that 
account.  Such  a  situation  means  the  presence  of  a 
strong  life,  a  strong  mind,  and  a  strong  hand  exem- 
phfying  ideals  every  day.  This  is  education,  this  is 
growth,  this  is  real  life. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  RURAL  SCHOOL   CURRICULUM 

Imitation. — There  are  two  processes  by  which  all 
progress  is  attained,  namely,  imitation  and  invention. 
Imitation  is  found  everywhere,  in  all  spheres  of 
thought  and  of  action.  Children  are  great  imitators, 
and  adults  are  only  children  grown  up.  Imita- 
tion, of  course,  is  a  necessary  thing.  Without  it 
no  use  could  be  made  of  past  experience.  When  it 
conserves  and  propagates  the  good  it  is  to  be  com- 
mended; but  the  worthless  and  the  bad  are  often 
imitated  also.  As  imitation  is  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  past  experience,  so  invention  is  equally 
essential  in  blazing  new  paths  of  thought  and  of 
action.  It  is  probably  true  that  all  persons  are  more 
prone  to  imitation  than  to  invention. 

The  Country  Imitates  the  City. — The  rural  schools 
have  always  imitated  the  city  schools,  as  rural  life 
attempts  to  imitate  city  life.  The  books  used  in 
rural  schools  have  been  written  almost  exclusively 
with  city  conditions  in  mind  and  by  authors  who  have 
been  city  bred  or  city  won.  These  books  have  about 
them  the  atmosphere  and  the  flavor  of  the  city.  Their 
selections  as  a  rule  contain  references  and  allusions 

lOO 


THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  loi 

without  number  to  city  life,  and  give  a  cityward  bent; 
their  whole  connotation  and  attitude  direct  tlie  mind 
toward  the  city.  As  a  consequence  even  school 
textbooks  have  been  potent  aids  in  the  urban  trend. 

Textbooks. — It  is  not  urged  that  the  subject  matter 
of  textbooks  be  made  altogether  rural  in  its  applica- 
tions and  references.  The  books  should  not  be  com- 
pletely ruralized;  nor  should  there  be  two  sets  of 
books,  one  for  the  country  and  one  for  the  city.  But 
there  should  be  a  more  even  balance  between  the 
city  aspect  and  the  rural  aspect  of  textbooks,  whether 
used  in  the  country  or  in  the  city.  If  the  texts  now 
used  generally  were  rewritten  with  the  purpose  of 
attaining  that  balance,  they  would  greatly  assist  the 
curriculum  in  both  country  and  city  schools.  There 
is  no  reason  why  city  children  should  not  have  their 
minds  touched  by  the  life,  the  thought,  and  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  country;  and  it  is  granted  that  country 
children  should  be  made  conscious  and  cognizant  of 
the  life,  the  thought,  and  the  activities  of  the  city. 
There  is  no  more  reason  why  textbooks  should  carry 
the  urban  message,  than  that  they  should  be  dom- 
inantly  ruralizing. 

An  Interpreting  Core. — The  experiences  of  country 
children  are  of  all  kinds;  rural  life,  thought,  and  as- 
pirations constitute  the  very  development  of  their 
consciousness  and  minds.  In  all  their  practical  ex- 
periences rural  life  and  thought  form  the  anchorage 
of   their  later  academic  instruction.     This  early  ex- 


I02  THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 

perience  constitutes  what  the  Herbartians  term  their 
"apperception  mass";  and  children,  as  well  as  grown- 
ups, can  interpret  new  matter  only  in  terms  of  the 
old.  The  experiences  of  the  child,  which  constitute 
his  world  of  thought,  of  discourse,  and  of  action,  are 
the  only  means  by  which  he  grasps  and  interprets 
new  thought  and  experience.  Consequently,  the 
texts  which  rural  children  use  should  make  a  strong 
appeal  to  their  apperception  mass — to  their  old  stock 
and  store  of  knowledge.  It  is  the  textbooks  that 
bring  to  the  old  knowledge  new  mental  material 
which  the  teacher  and  the  textbook  together  attempt 
to  communicate  to  the  children.  Without  an  inter- 
preting center — a  stock  and  store  of  old  knowledge 
which  constitute  the  very  mental  life  of  the  child — 
it  is  impossible  for  him  to  assimilate  the  new.  The  old 
experiences  are,  in  fact,  the  mental  digestive  apparatus 
of  the  child.  Without  this  center,  or  core,  the  new 
instead  of  being  assimilated  is,  so  to  speak,  merely 
stuck  on.  This  is  the  case  with  much  of  the  subject 
matter  in  city-made  texts.  It  does  not  grow,  but 
soon  withers  and  falls  away.  It  is,  then,  essential  that 
the  textbooks  used  in  rural  schools  should  have  the 
rural  bent  and  application,  the  rural  flavor,  the  rural 
beck  and  welcome. 

Rural  Teachers  from  the  City. — The  great  majority 
of  teachers  come  from  the  city.  They  are  mostly 
young  girls  having,  without  blame  on  their  part,  the 
tone  and  temper,   the  attitude,   spirit,   and  training 


THE   RURAL   SCHOOL   CURRICULUM  103 

which  the  city  gives.  Their  minds  have  been  urban- 
ized; all  their  thoughts  are  city  thoughts.  The  text- 
books which  they  have  used  have  been  city  textbooks; 
their  teachers  have  for  the  most  part  been  those  in 
or  from  the  city.  It  is  not  possible  that  such  teachers 
can  do  for  the  rural  districts  all  that  ought  to  be  done. 
They  cannot  help  inspiring  children  with  the  idea  of 
ultimately  going  to  the  city.  This  suggestion  and 
this  inspiration  are  given  unconsciously,  but  in  the 
years  of  childhood  they  take  deep  root  and  sooner  or 
later  work  themselves  out  in  an  additional  impetus 
to  the  urban  trend. 

A  Course  for  Rural  Teachers. — What  is  needed  is 
a  course  of  instruction  for  rural  teachers,  in  every 
state  of  the  Union.  In  some  states  the  agricultural 
colleges  have  inaugurated  a  movement  to  this  end. 
In  such  colleges,  agricultural  high  schools,  and  in- 
stitutions of  a  similar  kind  in  every  state,  a  three- 
year  course  for  teachers  above  the  eighth  year, 
specially  designed  to  prepare  them  for  rural  school 
teaching,  should  be  established.  Such  a  school  would 
furnish  the  proper  atmosphere  and  the  proper  courses 
of  instruction  to  suffuse  the  minds  of  these  prospective 
teachers  with  appreciation  and  love  of  country  life  and 
rural  school  work. 

All  Not  to  Remain  in  the  Country. — It  is  not  con- 
tended here  that  all  who  are  born  and  brought  up  in 
the  country  ouglU  to  remain  there  for  life.  Many 
writers  and  speakers  preach  the  gospel  of  "  the  country 


I04  THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 

for  country  children,"  but  this  cannot  be  sound.  Each 
one,  as  the  years  go  by,  should  "find"  himself  and  his 
own  proper  place.  There  are  many  children  brought 
up  in  the  country  who  find  their  place  best  in  the  heart 
of  the  great  city;  and  there  are  many  brought  up  in 
the  cities  who  ultimately  find  themselves  and  their 
place  in  the  country  and  in  its  work.  While  all  this 
is  true  it  may  still  be  maintained  that  the  proper 
mental  food  for  country  children  is  the  life  and  the 
activities  of  the  country;  and  if  this  life  and  these 
activities  are  made  pleasant  and  attractive  a  larger 
percentage  of  country  children  will  remain  in  the  coun- 
try for  the  benefit  of  both  country  and  city. 

Mere  Textbook  Teaching. — Many  teachers  in  the 
country,  as  well  as  in  the  city,  follow  literally  the 
textbooks  provided  for  them.  Textbooks,  being  com- 
mon and  general,  must  leave  the  application  of  the 
thought  largely  to  the  teacher.  To  follow  them  is 
probably  the  easiest  kind  of  teaching,  for  the  mind 
then  moves  along  the  line  of  least  resistance.  Ac- 
cordingly the  tendency  is  merely  to  teach  textbooks, 
without  libraries,  laboratories,  and  other  facilities  for 
the  application  of  the  thought  of  the  text.  Application 
and  illustration  are  always  difficult.  It  frequently 
happens  that  children  go  through  their  textbooks 
under  the  guidance  of  their  more  or  less  mechanical 
teachers,  without  making  any  application  of  their 
knowledge.  Their  learning  seems  to  be  stored  away 
in  pigeonholes  and  never  used  again.     That  in  one 


THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  105 

pigeonhole  does  not  mix  with  that  in  another.  Their 
thoughts  and  their  education  in  different  fields  are  in 
no  sense  united.  Pupils  are  surprised  if  they  are  asked 
or  expected  to  use  their  knowledge  in  any  practical 
manner.  A  man  who  had  a  tank,  seven  feet  in  diam- 
eter and  eight  feet  high,  about  half  full  of  gasoline, 
asked  his  daughter,  who  was  completing  the  eighth 
grade,  to  figure  out  for  him  how  many  gallons  it 
contained.  She  had  just  been  over  ''weights  and 
measures"  and  "denominate  numbers"  of  all  kinds. 
After  much  figuring  she  returned  the  answer  that  there 
were  in  it  about  seven  and  one  half  gallons,  without 
ever  suspecting  the  ridiculousness  of  the  result. 

A  Rich  Environment. — The  country  is  so  rich  in 
material  of  all  kinds  for  scientific  observation,  that 
some  education  should  be  given  to  the  rural  child  in 
this  field.  x\griculture  and  its  various  activities  sur- 
round the  child;  nature  teems  with  life,  both  animal 
and  vegetable;  the  country  furnishes  long  stretches  of 
meadow  and  woodland  for  observation  and  study. 
Yet  in  most  places  the  children  are  blind  to  the  beauties 
and  wonders  around  them.  Nature  study  in  such  an 
environment  should  be  a  fascinating  subject,  and  agri- 
culture is  full  of  possibilities  for  the  application  of  the 
thought  in  the  textbooks. 

Who  Will  Teach  These  Things?— But  who  will  teach 
these  new  sciences  or  open  the  eyes  of  the  child  to  the 
beauties  around  him?  Not  everyone  can  do  it.  It 
will  require  a  master.     Teaching  "at"  these  things 


lo6  THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 

in  a  dull,  perfunctory  way  will  do  no  good.  It  would 
be  better  to  leave  them  untaught.  We  have,  every- 
where, too  much  "attempting"  to  teach  and  not 
enough  teaching,  too  much  seeming  and  not  enough 
being,  too  much  appearance  and  not  enough  reality. 

An  example  will  illustrate  the  author's  meaning. 
Some  years  ago  an  experienced  institute  conductor 
in  a  western  state  found  himself  the  sole  instructor 
when  the  teachers  of  the  county  convened.  He  sought 
among  the  teachers  for  someone  who  could  and  would 
give  him  assistance.  One  man  of  middle  age,  who  had 
taught  for  many  years,  volunteered  to  take  the  subject 
of  arithmetic  and  to  give  four  lessons  of  forty  minutes 
each  in  it  during  the  week.  This  was  good  news  to  the 
conductor;  he  congratulated  himself  on  having  found 
some  efficient  help.  His  assistant,  however,  after 
talking  on  arithmetic  for  ten  minutes  of  his  first 
period,  reached  the  limit  of  his  capacity,  either  of 
thought  or  of  expression,  and  had  to  stop.  He  could 
not  say  another  word  on  that  subject  during  the  week ! 
Now  if  this  is  true  of  an  experienced  middle-aged 
teacher  of  a  subject  so  universally  taught  as  arith- 
metic, how  much  more  true  must  it  be  of  an  instructor 
in  a  subject  like  agriculture.  It  should  not  be  ex- 
pected that  a  young  girl,  eighteen  or  twenty  years 
of  age,  who  has  probably  been  brought  up  in  the  city 
and  who  has  had  the  subject  of  agriculture  only  one 
period  a  day  for  a  year,  can  give  any  adequate  in- 
struction in  that  branch.     She  would  be  the  butt  for 


THE  RURAL   SCHOOL   CURRICULUM  107 

ridicule  among  the  practical  boys  and  girls  in  the 
country  who  would  probably  know  more  about  such 
things  than  she.  She  would,  therefore,  lose  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  pupils  and  parents,  and  it  would 
really  be  better  for  her  and  for  all  concerned  not  to 
attempt  the  teaching  of  that  subject  at  all.  What  is 
worth  doing  at  all  is  worth  doing  well.  A  Httle  instruc- 
tion well  given  and  well  appHed  is  worth  any  amount 
of  ''stuff"  poorly  done  and  unapplied. 

The  Scientific  Spirit  Needed. — There  is  great  need 
of  teachers  who  are  thoroughly  imbued  with  the 
scientific  spirit.  In  the  country  especially  there  is 
need  of  teachers  who  will  rouse  the  boys  and  girls  to 
the  investigation  of  problems  from  the  facts  at  hand 
and  all  around  them.  This  should  be  done  inductively 
and  in  an  investigative  spirit.  Our  whole  system  of  edu- 
cation seems  somewhat  vitiated  by  the  deductive  atti- 
tude and  method  of  teaching — the  assuming  of  theories 
handed  down  by  the  past,  without  investigation 
or  verification.  This  is  the  kind  of  teaching  which 
has  paralyzed  China  for  untold  generations.  The 
easiest  thing  to  do  is  to  accept  something  which  some- 
body else  has  formulated  and  then,  without  further 
ado,  to  be  content  with  it.  The  truly  scientific  mind, 
the  investigative  mind,  is  one  that  starts  with  facts 
or  phenomena  and,  after  observing  a  sufficient  number 
of  them,  formulates  a  conclusion  and  tests  it.  This 
will  result  in  real  thinking — which  is  the  same  as 
"thinging."     It  is  putting  things  into  causal  relation 


lo8  THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 

and  constructing  from  them,  unity  out  of  diversity. 
To  induce  this  habit  of  thought,  to  inspire  this  spirit 
of  investigation  and  observation  in  children  is  the 
essence  of  teaching.  To  teach  is  to  cause  others  to 
think,  and  the  man  or  woman  who  does  this  is  a  suc- 
cessful teacher. 

A  Course  of  Study. — There  should  be  in  every  rural 
school  a  simple  and  suggestive  course  of  study.  This 
should  not  be  as  large  as  a  textbook.  The  purpose  of 
it  is  not  to  indicate  at  great  length  and  in  detail  either 
the  matter  or  the  manner  of  teaching  any  specific 
subject.  It  should  be  merely  an  outline  of  the  metes 
and  bounds  in  the  processes  and  the  progress  of  pupils 
through  the  grades.  The  course  of  study  should  be  a 
means,  not  an  end;  it  should  be  a  servant  and  not  a 
master.  It  should  not  entail  upon  the  school  or  upon 
the  teacher  a  vast  complicated  machinery  or  an  endless 
routine  of  red  tape.  If  it  does  this  it  defeats  its  true 
aim.  Here  again  the  country  schools  have  attempted 
to  imitate  the  city  schools.  In  all  cities  grading  is 
much  more  systematized,  and  is  pushed  to  a  greater 
extent  than  it  is  or  should  be  in  the  country.  Owing 
to  the  necessities  of  the  situation  and  also  to  the  con- 
venience of  the  plan  in  the  cities,  the  grades,  with  their 
appropriate  books,  amount  of  work,  and  plan  of  pro- 
cedure, are  much  more  definite  than  is  possible  or 
desirable  in  the  country.  To  grade  the  country  schools 
as  definitely  and  as  systematically  as  is  done  in  the 
city  would  be  to  do  them  an  irreparable  injury.    The 


THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  109 

country  would  make  a  great  mistake  to  imitate  the 
city  school  systems  in  its  courses  of  study. 

Red  Tape. — It  frequently  happens  that  county 
and  state  superintendents,  in  order  to  magnify  their 
oihce  and  to  appear  busy  and  useful,  impose  upon 
the  country  schools  all  sorts  of  tests,  examinations,  re- 
ports, and  what-not,  to  no  purpose,  and  in  fact  to  the 
injury  of  their  schools.  To  pile  up  complications  and 
intricacies  of  this  kind  in  rural  schools  is  utterly  use- 
less, and  indicates  the  want  of  a  true  conception  of 
the  school  situation.  All  these  things  will  not  teach 
alone  any  more  than  a  saw  will  saw  alone.  Behind  it 
all  must  be  the  simple,  great  teacher,  and  for  him  all 
these  things,  beyond  a  reasonable  extent,  are  hindrances 
to  progress. 

Length  of  Term. — In  very  many  countr}'  districts 
the  terms  are  frequently  only  six  months  in  the  year. 
This  should  be  extended  to  eight  at  least.  Even  in 
this  case,  it  gives  the  rural  school  a  shorter  term  than 
the  city  school,  which  usually  has  nine  or  ten  months 
each  year.  But  it  is  very  probable  that  the  simplicity 
of  rural  school  life  and  rural  school  teaching  will 
enable  pupils  to  do  as  much  in  eight  months  as  is  done 
in  the  city  in  nine. 

Individual  Work. — Individual  work  should  be  the 
rule  in  many  subjects.  There  is  no  need,  on  account 
of  numbers,  of  a  lock-step.  In  the  cities,  where  the 
teacher  has  probably  an  average  of  35  to  40  children, 
all  the  pupils  are  held  together  and  in  line.     In  such 


no  THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 

cases  the  great  danger  is  to  those  above  the  average. 
There  is  the  danger  of  forming  what  might  be  called 
the  "slow  habit."  The  bright  pupils  are  retarded  in 
their  work,  for  they  are  capable  of  much  more  than 
they  do.  In  such  cases  the  retardation  is  not  on 
account  of  the  inability  of  the  pupil  but  on  account 
of  the  system.  The  bright  ones  are  held  back  in  line 
with  the  slow.  This  need  not  be  the  case  in  rural 
schools.  Here,  in  every  subject  which  lends  itself 
to  the  plan,  each  pupil  should  be  allowed  to  go  as  far 
and  as  fast  as  he  can,  provided  that  he  appreciates  the 
thought,  solves  the  problems,  and  understands  the 
work  as  he  goes.  I  once  knew  a  large  rural  school  in 
which  there  were  enrolled  about  sixty  pupils,  taking 
the  subjects  of  all  the  grades,  from  the  first  to  the 
eighth  and  even  some  high  school  subjects.  In  such 
classes  as  arithmetic  the  pupils  were,  so  to  speak, 
"turned  loose"  and  all  entered  upon  a  race  for  the 
goal.  Each  one  did  as  much  as  he  could,  his  attain- 
ments being  subjected  to  the  test  of  examination. 
The  plan  worked  excellently ;  no  one  was  retarded,  and 
all  were  intensely  busy. 

"  Waking  Up  the  Mind." — The  main  thing  in  any 
school  is  not  the  amount  of  knowledge  which  pupils  get 
from  textbooks  or  from  the  teacher,  but  the  extent  to 
which  the  mind  appropriates  that  knowledge  and  is 
"waked  up"  by  it.  Mr.  Page  in  his  excellent  classic. 
The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching,  has  a  chapter 
called  "Waking  Up  the  Mind"  and  some  excellent 


THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  ill 

illustrations  as  to  how  it  may  be  done.  The  main 
thing  is  not  the  amount  of  mere  knowledge  or  in- 
formation held  in  memory  for  future  delivery,  but  the 
spirit  and  attitude  of  it  all.  The  extent  to  which 
children's  minds  are  made  awake  and  sensitive,  and 
the  extent  to  which  they  are  inspired  to  pursue  with 
zest  and  spirit  any  new  problem  are  the  best  criterions 
of  success  in  teaching.  The  spirit  and  method  of 
attack  is  all-important;  quantity  is  secondary.  If 
children  have  each  other,  so  to  speak,  "by  the  ears," 
over  some  problem  from  one  day  to  the  next,  it  indi- 
cates that  the  school  and  the  teacher  are  awake, 
that  they  are  up  and  doing,  and  that  education,  which 
is  a  process  of  leavening,  is  taking  place. 

The  Overflow  of  Instruction. — On  account  of  the 
individual  work  which  is  possible  in  the  country 
schools,  what  is  sometimes  called  the  "overflow  of 
instruction"  is  an  important  factor  in  the  stimulation 
and  the  education  of  all  the  children  in  the  room.  In 
the  city  school,  where  all  are  on  a  dead  level,  doing  the 
same  work,  there  is  not  much  information  or  inspira- 
tion descending  from  above,  for  there  is  no  class 
above.  But  in  the  rural  school,  children  hear  either 
consciously  or  unconsciously  much  that  is  going  on 
around  them.  They  hear  the  larger  boys  and  girls 
recite  and  discuss  many  interesting  things.  These 
discussions  wake  up  minds  by  sowing  the  seeds  which 
afterwards  come  to  flower  and  fruit  in  those  who 
listen — in  those  who,  in  fact,  cannot  help  hearing. 


112  THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 

I  remember  an  incident  which  occurred  during  my 
experience  as  a  pupil  in  a  country  school.  A  certain 
county  superintendent,  who  used  to  visit  the  school 
periodically,  was  in  the  habit,  on  these  occasions,  of 
reading  to  the  school  for  probably  half  an  hour. 
Just  what  he  read  I  do  not  even  remember,  but  I 
recall  vividly  his  quiet  manner  and  attitude,  his 
beautiful  and  simple  expression,  and  the  whole  tone 
and  temper  of  the  man  as  he  gathered  the  thought 
and  expressed  it  so  beautifully  and  so  artistically. 
This  type  of  thing  has  great  influence.  It  is  often  the 
intangible  thing  that  tells  and  that  is  valuable.  In 
every  case,  that  which  is  most  artistically  done  is 
probably  that  which  leaves  its  impression. 

Affiliation. — In  some  states,  notably  in  Minnesota, 
an  excellent  plan  is  in  vogue  by  which  the  schools 
surrounding  a  town  or  a  city  are  affiliated  with  the 
city  schools  in  such  a  manner  as  to  receive  the  benefit 
of  the  instruction  of  certain  special  teachers  from  the 
city.  These  teachers — of  manual  training,  domestic 
science,  agriculture,  etc. — are  sent  out  from  the  city 
to  these  rural  schools  two  or  three  times  a  week,  and 
in  return  the  country  children  beyond  a  certain  grade 
are  sent  to  the  high  school  in  the  city.  This  is  a  process 
of  affiliation  which  is  stimulating  and  economical,  and 
can  be  encouraged  with  good  results. 

The  "  Liking  Point." — In  the  teaching  of  all  subjects 
the  important  thing  is  that  the  pupil  reach  what  may 
be   termed   the   "liking  point."    Until  a  pupil  has 


A  Christmas  gathering  at  the  new  school 


A  school  garden  in  the  larger  center 


THE  RURAL  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  113 

reached  that  point  m  any  subject  of  study  his  work  is 
mere  drudgery — it  is  work  which  is  probably  disHked. 
The  great  problem  for  the  teacher  is  to  bring  the  child 
as  soon  as  possible  to  this  liking  point,  and  then  to 
keep  him  there.  It  is  probable  that  every  pupil  can 
be  brought  to  the  liking  point  of  every  subject  by  a 
good  teacher.  Where  there  is  difficulty  in  doing  this, 
something  has  gone  wrong  somewhere,  either  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil,  his  former  teachers,  his  parents,  or 
his  companions.  When  a  pupil  has  reached  the  liking 
point  it  means  that  he  has  a  keen  relish,  an  appetite 
for  the  subject,  and  in  this  condition  he  will  actively 
pursue  it. 

The  Teacher  the  Chief  Factor. — The  foregoing  ob- 
servations imply  again  that  the  teacher,  after  all,  is 
the  great  factor  in  the  success  of  the  school.  He  is 
the  "man  behind  the  gun";  he  is  the  engineer  at  the 
throttle;  he  is  the  master  at  the  helm;  he  is  the  ^uide, 
for  he  has  been  over  the  road;  he  is  the  organizer, 
the  center  of  things;  he  is  the  mainspring;  he  is  the 
soul  of  the  school,  and  is  greater  than  books  or  courses 
of  study.  He  is  the  living  fire  at  which  all  the  children 
must  light  their  torches.  Again  we  ask,  how  can  this 
kind  of  person  be  found?  Without  him  true  educa- 
tion, in  its  best  sense,  cannot  be  secured;  with  him  the 
paltry  consideration  of  salary  should  not  enter.  With- 
out such  teachers  there  can  be  no  solution  of  the  rural 
school  problems,  nor,  indeed,  of  the  rural  life  problems. 
With  him  and  those  of  his  class,  there  is  great  hope. 

Rural  Life— 8 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  SOCIAL   CENTER 

During  the  past  few  years  we  have  heard  much  of 
what  is  called  the  "social  center,"  or  the  "community 
center,"  in  rural  districts.  This  idea  has  grown  with 
the  spread  of  the  consolidation  of  schools,  and  means, 
as  the  name  implies,  a  unifying,  coordinating,  organ- 
izing agency  of  some  kind  in  the  midst  of  the  com- 
munity, to  bring  about  a  harmony  and  solidity  of  all 
the  interests  there  represented.  It  implies  of  course 
a  leader;  for  what  is  left  to  be  done  by  people  in  gen- 
eral is  likely  to  be  done  poorly.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  this  idea  should  be  encouraged  and  promoted. 
People  living  in  the  country  are  of  necessity  forced  to 
a  life  of  isolation.  Their  very  work  and  position 
necessitate  this,  and  consequently  it  is  aU  the  more 
necessary  that  they  should  frequently  come  together 
in  order  to  know  each  other  and  to  act  together  for 
the  benefit  of  all.  "In  union  there  is  strength,"  but 
these  people  have  always  been  under  a  great  dis- 
advantage in  every  way,  because  they  have  not  organ- 
ized for  the  purpose  of  united  and  effective  cooperation. 

The  Teacher,  the  Leader. — There  is  no  more 
appropriate  person  to  bring  about  this  organization, 

114 


THE  SOCIAL   CENTER 


"5 


this  unification,  this  increased  solidarity,  than  the 
pubhc  school  teacher  of  the  community;  but  it  will 
require  the  head  and  the  hand  of  a  real  master  to 
lead  a  community — to  organize  it,  to  unite  it,  and 
to  keep  it  united.  It  requires  a  person  of  rare  strength 
and  tact,  a  person  who  has  a  clear  head  and  a  large 
heart,  and  who  is  "up  and  doing"  all  the  time.  A 
good  second  to  such  a  person  w^ould  be  the  minister 
of  the  neighborhood,  provided  he  has  breadth  of  view 
and  a  kindly  and  tolerant  spirit.  Much  of  the  success 
of  rural  life  in  foreign  countries,  notably  in  Denmark, 
is  due  to  the  combined  efforts  of  the  schoolmaster  and 
the  minister  of  the  community  church. 

Some  Community  Activities. — Let  us  suggest  briefly 
some  of  the  activities  that  are  conducive  to  the  fuller 
life  of  such  a  social  center.  It  is  true  that  these 
activities  are  more  possible  in  the  consolidated  dis- 
tricts than  in  the  communities  where  consolidation 
has  not  been  effected;  but  many  of  them  could  be  pro- 
vided even  in  the  small  schools. 

The  Literary  Society. — There  should  be  in  every 
school  district  a  literary  society  of  some  kind.  This 
of  course  must  not  be  overworked,  for  other  kinds  of 
activities  also  should  be  organized  in  order  to  give 
the  change  which  interest  demands.  In  this  hterary 
society  the  interest  and  assistance  of  the  adults 
of  the  neighborhood  and  the  district,  who  are  willing 
and  able  to  cooperate,  should  be  enlisted.  There  are 
in  every  community  a  few  men  and  women  who  will 


Il6  THE  SOCIAL  CENTER 

gladly  assist  in  a  work  of  this  kind  if  their  interest 
can  be  properly  aroused.  There  is  scarcely  any 
better  stimulus  to  the  general  interest  of  a  neigh- 
borhood, and  especially  of  the  children  in  the  school, 
than  seeing  and  hearing  some  of  the  grown-up  men 
and  women  who  are  their  neighbors  participate  in 
such  literary  work. 

Debates. — An  important  phase  of  the  literary  work 
of  such  a  society  should  be  an  occasional  debate. 
This  might  be  participated  in  sometimes  by  adults 
who  are  not  going  to  school,  and  sometimes  by  the 
bigger  and  more  advanced  pupils.  Topics  that  are 
timely  and  of  interest  to  the  whole  community  should 
be  discussed.  There  is  probably  no  better  way  of 
teaching  a  tolerant  spirit  and  respect  for  the  honest 
opinions  of  others  than  the  habit  of  "give  and  take" 
in  debate.  In  such  debates  judges  could  sometimes 
be  appointed  and  at  other  times  the  relative  merits 
of  the  case  and  of  the  debaters  might  well  be  left  to 
the  people  of  the  neighborhood  without  any  formal 
decision  having  been  rendered.  This  latter*  plan  is 
the  one  used  in  practical  life  in  regard  to  addresses 
and  debates  on  the  political  platform.  The  discussions 
and  differences  of  opinion  following  such  debates  con- 
stitute no  small  part  of  life  and  thought  manifested 
later  in  the  community. 

The  School  Program. — A  program  or  exhibition  by 
the  school  should  be  given  occasionally.  This  would 
differ  from  the  work  of  the  literary  society  in  that  it 


THE  SOCIAL  CENTER 


117 


would  be  confined  to  the  pupils  of  the  school.  Such 
a  program  should  be  a  sample  of  what  the  pupils  are 
doing  and  can  do.  It  should  be  a  mental  exhibition 
of  the  school  activities.  There  is  scarcely  anything 
that  attracts  the  people  and  the  parents  of  the  neighbor- 
hood more  than  the  literary  performances  of  their 
children,  younger  and  older.  Such  performances,  as 
in  other  cases,  may  be  overdone;  they  may  be  put  I 
forward  too  frequently;  they  may  also  be  too  lengthy. 
But  the  teacher  with  a  true  perspective  will  see 
to  it  that  all  such  extremes  are  avoided,  for  he  re- 
alizes that  there  are  other  activities  which  must  be 
developed  and  presented  in  order  to  secure  a  change  of 
interest.  These  school  programs  occupy  the  mind 
and  thought  of  the  community  for  some  time.  The 
performance  of  the  different  parts  and  the  efforts' 
of  the  various  children — both  their  successes  and  their 
failures — become  the  subjects  of  thought  and  of  talk 
in  the  neighborhood.  It  acts  like  a  kind  of  ferment 
in  the  social  mind;  it  keeps  the  school  and  the  com-^ 
munity  talking  and  thinking  of  school  and  of  education. 
Spelling  Schools. — For  a  change,  even  an  old- 
fashioned  spelling  school  is  not  to  be  scorned. 
Years  ago  this  was  quite  the  custom.  An  entire 
school  would,  on  a  challenge,  go  as  a  sleigh-ride  party 
to  the  challenging  school.  There  the  spelling  contest 
would  take  place.  One  of  the  teachers,  either  the 
host  or  the  guest,  would  pronounce  the  words,  and 
the  visiting  school  would  return,  either  victorious  or 


Il8  THE  SOCIAL  CENTER 

vanquished.  A  performance  of  this  kind  enlists  the 
attention  and  the  interest  of  people  and  schools  in 
the  necessity  of  good  spelling;  it  affords  a  delightful 
social  recreation,  stirs  up  thought  and  wakes  up  mind 
in  both  communities,  by  an  interesting  and  courteous 
contest.    Such  results  are  not  to  be  undervalued. 

Lectures. — If  the  school  is  a  consolidated  one,  or 
even  a  large  district  school,  a  good  lecture  course  may 
be  given  to  advantage.  Here,  again,  care  must  be 
taken  that  the  lectures,  even  if  few,  shall  be  choice. 
Nothing  will  kill  a  course  of  lectures  sooner  than  to 
have  the  people  deceived  a  few  times  by  poor  ones. 
It  would  be  better  to  have  three  good  lectures  during 
the  year  than  six  that  would  be  disappointing.  These 
lecture  courses  may  be  secured  in  almost  every  state 
through  the  Extension  Department  of  the  various 
state  institutions.  Recently  the  states  of  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  and  North  Dakota  have  entered  into  an 
arrangement  whereby  they  will  furnish  any  rural  or 
urban  community  of  these  states  with  good  lecturers 
at  a  very  small  consideration.  Excellent  lectures  can 
be  secured  in  this  way  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects, 
including  those  most  interesting  to  rural  communities 
and  most  helpful  in  all  phases  of  farm  life.  These 
might  be  secured  in  the  winter  season  when  there  is 
ample  time  and  leisure  for  all  to  attend. 

Dramatic  Performances. — In  the  social  centers  where 
the  conveniences  admit,  simple  dramatic  perform- 
ances might  be  worked  up  or  secured  from  the  out- 


THE  SOCIAL  CENTER 


119 


side.  It  is  no  doubt  true  that  life  in  country  com- 
munities is  not  sufficiently  cheered  through  the  agency 
of  the  imagination.  In  fact,  the  tendency  is  for  farmers 
and  for  farmers'  famiUes  to  Hve  a  rather  humdrum 
existence  involving  much  drudgery.  On  the  se- 
cluded farms  during  the  long  winter  months,  there 
is  much  lonesomeness  and  weariness.  It  has  been 
asserted  that  the  isolation  and  solitariness  in  sparsely 
settled  districts  are  causes  of  the  high  percentage 
of  insanity  in  rural  and  frontier  communities.  It  is 
good  for  the  mental  and  physical  health  of  both  old 
and  young  to  be  Hfted,  once  in  a  while,  out  of  the 
world  of  reahty  into  that  of  the  imagination.  All 
children  and  young  people  like  to  play,  to  act,  to 
make  believe.  This  is  a  part  of  their  life,  and  it  is 
conducive  to  their  mental  and  social  welfare  to  express 
themselves  in  simple  plays  or  to  see  life  in  its  various 
phases  presented  dramatically. 

A  Musical  Program. — If  the  teacher  is  a  leader  he 
will  either  be  able,  himself,  to  arrange  a  musical 
entertainment,  or  he  will  secure  some  one  who  can 
and  will  do  so.  All,  it  is  contended,  can  learn  to  sing 
if  they  begin  early  enough;  and  there  is  probably  no 
better  mode  of  self-expression  and  no  better  way  of 
waking  up  people  emotionally  and  socially  than  to 
engage  them  in  singing.  The  importance  of  singing, 
to  secure  good  and  right  emotional  attitudes  toward 
life  and  mankind,  is  indicated  in  the  saying,  "Let  me 
make  the  songs  of  a  nation  and  I  care  not  who  makes 


I20  THE  SOCIAL  CENTER 

her  laws."  The  importance  of  singing  is  recognized 
to  a  much  greater  extent  in  foreign  countries,  notably 
in  Germany,  than  in  America.  In  Germany  all  sing; 
in  America,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  but  few  sing.  There 
should  be  a  real  renaissance  in  music  throughout  the 
country.  As  an  aid  in  the  teaching  of  music  and  of 
song,  that  matvelous  invention,  the  "talking  machine," 
should  be  made  use  of.  It  would  be  an  excellent 
thing  if  a  phonograph  could  be  put  in  every  school. 
Children  would  become  acquainted  with  the  best  music ; 
they  w^ould  grow  to  like  it,  as  the  weeks,  months,  and 
years  roll  on.  This  machine  is  a  wonderful  help  in  V 
developing  an  appreciation  of  good  music. 

Slides  and  Moving  Pictures. — In  the  consolidated 
schools,  where  there  is  a  suitable  hall,  a  moving- 
picture  entertainment  of  the  right  kind  is  to  be  com- 
mended. The  screens  and  the  lantern  enable  us,  in 
our  imaginations,  to  live  in  all  countries  and  climes. 
The  eye  is  the  royal  road  to  the  mind,  and  most  people 
are  eye-minded;  and  the  moving  picture  is  a  wonder- 
ful agency  to  convey  to  the  mind,  through  the  eye, 
accurate  pictures  of  the  world  around  us,  natural  and 
social.  The  community  center — the  school  center — 
should  avail  itself  of  all  such  inventions. 

Supervised  Dancing. — Even  the  supervised  dance, 
where   the  sentiment  of  the  community  will  allow, 
is  not  to  be  condemned.     It  is  much  better  to  have 
young  people  attend  dances  that  are  supervised  than ; 
to    attend   public    dances    that   are   not   supervised;  | 


THE  SOCIAL  CENTER  1 21 

and  young  people,  as  a  rule,  wdll  attend  one  or  the  other. 
The  practical  question  or  condition  is  one  of  super- 
vision or  no  supervision,  for  the  dance  is  here.  The 
dance  properly  supervised,  and  conducted  in  a  cour- 
teous, formal  way,  beginning  and  closing  at  the  right 
time,  can  probably  be  turned  to  good  and  made 
an  occasion  for  social  and  indixddual  culture.  The 
niceties  and  amenities  of  life  can  there  be  inculcated. 
There  is  no  good  reason  why  the  dance  activities 
should  be  turned  over  to  the  de\dl.  There  was  a  time, 
and  there  were  places  where  \'iolin  playing  was  turned 
over  to  him  and  banished  from  the  churches.  Dancing 
is  too  old,  too  general,  too  instinctive,  and  too  im- 
portant, not  to  be  recognized  as  a  means  to  social 
culture.  Here  again  the  sane  teacher  can  be  an  effi- 
cient supervisor.  He  can  take  care  that  the  young 
people  do  not  become  entirely  dance-minded. 

Sports  and  Games. — The  various  sports  should  not 
be  forgotten.  Skating,  curling,  and  hockey,  basket 
ball,  and  volley  ball,  are  all  fine  winter  sports;  in 
summer,  teams  should  be  organized  in  baseball,  tennis, 
and  all  the  proper  athletic  sports  and  games.  Play 
should  be  super\ased  to  a  certain  extent;  over-super- 
vision will  kill  it.  Sometimes  plays  that  are  not 
supervised  at  all  degenerate  and  become  worse  than 
none.  All  of  these  physical  activities  and  sports 
should  be  found  and  fostered  in  the  rural  center. 
They  are  healthful,  both  physically  and  mentally, 
and  should  be  participated  in  by  both  girls  and  boys. 


122  THE  SOCIAL  CENTER 

It  is  probably  true  that  our  schools  and  our  edu- 
cation have  stood,  to  too  great  an  extent,  for  mere 
intellectual  acquisition  and  training.  In  Sparta  of 
old,  education  was  probably  nine  tenths  physical 
and  one  tenth  mental.  In  these  modern  days 
education  seems  to  be  about  ninety-nine  parts  men- 
tal. A  sound  body  is  the  foundation  of  a  sound 
mind,  and  time  is  not  lost  in  devoting  much  atten- 
tion to  the  play  and  games  of  children  and  young 
people.  There  is  no  danger  in  the  schools  of  our  day 
of  going  to  an  extreme  in  the  direction  of  physical 
education;  the  danger  is  in  not  going  far  enough.  I 
am  not  sure  that  it  would  not  be  better  if  the  chil- 
dren in  every  school  were  kept  in  the  open  air  half 
the  time  learning  and  participating  in  various  games 
and  sports,  instead  of,  as  now,  poring  over  books  and 
memorizing  a  lot  of  stuff  that  will  never  function  on 
land  or  sea. 

School  Exhibits. — In  the  social  centers  a  school 
exhibit  could  be  occasionally  given  with  great  profit. 
If  domestic  science  is  taught,  an  occasion  should  be 
made  to  invite  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  to 
sample  the  products,  for  the  test  of  the  pudding  is 
in  the  eating.  This  would  make  a  dehghtful  social 
occasion  for  the  men  and  women  of  the  community  to 
meet  each  other,  and  the  after-effects  in  the  way  of 
favorable  comment  and  thought  would  be  good. 
If  manual  training  is  an  activity  of  the  school,  as  it 
ought  to  be,  a  good  exhibit  of  the  product  of  this 


THE  SOCIAL  CENTER  123 

department  could  be  given.  If  agriculture  is  taught  and 
there  is  a  school  garden,  as  there  should  be,  an  ex- 
hibit once  a  year  would  produce  most  desirable  effects 
in  the  community  along  agricultural  lines. 

A  Public  Forum. — Aside  from  provisions  for  school 
activities  in  this  social  center  there  should  be  a  hall 
where  public  questions  can  be  discussed.  All  political 
parties  should  be  given  equal  opportunities  to  present 
their  claims  before  the  people  of  the  community.  This 
would  tend  toward  instruction,  enlightenment,  and 
toleration.  The  interesting  questions  of  the  day,  in. 
political  and  social  life,  should  be  discussed  by  ex- 
ponents chosen  by  the  social  center  committee.  In' 
America  we  have  learned  the  lesson  of  listening  quietly 
to  speakers  in  a  public  meeting,  whether  we  agree 
with  them  or  not.  In  some  countries,  when  a  man 
rises  to  expound  his  poHtical  theories,  he  is  hissed  do\Mi 
or  driven  from  the  stage  by  force.  This  is  not  the 
American  way.  In  America  each  man  has  his  hour, 
and  all  listen  attentively  and  respectfully  to  him. 
The  next  evening  his  opponent  may  have  his  hour, 
his  inning,  and  the  audience  is  as  respectful  to  him. 
This  is  as  it  should  be;  this  is  the  true  spirit  of  tolera- 
tion which  should  prevail  ever^-where  and  which  can 
be  cultivated  to  great  advantage  in  these  rural,  social 
centers.  It  makes,  too,  for  the  fullness  of  life  in  rural 
communities.  It  makes  country  life  more  pleasant 
and  serves  in  some  degree  to  counteract  the  strong 
but  regrettable  urban  trend. 


124  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

Courtesy  and  Candor. — There  are  two  extremes  in 
debates  and  in  public  discussions  which  should  be 
equally  avoided:  The  first  is  that  brutal  frankness 
which  forgets  to  be  courteous;  and  the  second  is  that 
extreme  of  hypocritical  courtesy  which  forgets  to  be 
candid.  What  is  needed  everywhere  is  the  candor 
which  is  also  courteous  and  the  courtesy  which  is 
likewise  candid.  In  impulsive  youth  and  in  lack  of 
education  and  culture,  brutal  candor  without  courtesy 
sometimes  manifests  itself;  while  courtesy  without 
candor  is  too  often  exhibited  by  shrewd  politicians 
and  diplomatic  intriguers. 

Automobile  Parties. — A  delightful  occasion  could 
frequently  be  made  by  the  men  of  the  rural  com- 
munity who  are  the  owners  of  automobiles,-  by  taking 
all  the  children  of  the  community  and  of  the  schools, 
once  in  a  while,  for  an  automobile  ride  to  near  or 
distant  parts  of  the  county.  Such  an  occasion  would 
never  be  forgotten  by  them.  It  would  be  enjoyable 
to  those  who  give  as  well  as  to  those  who  receive,  and 
would  have  great  educational  as  well  as  social  value. 
It  would  bind  together  both  young  and  old  of  the  com- 
munity. Occasions  like  these  would  also  conduce  to 
the  good-roads  movement  so  commendable  and  im- 
portant throughout  the  country.  The  automobile 
and  the  consolidation  of  rural  schools,  resulting  in 
social  centers,  are  large  factors  in  the  good-roads 
movement. 

Full  Life  or  a  Full  Purse. — The  community  which 


THE  SOCIAL  CENTER  125 

has  been  centralized  socially  and  educationally  may 
often  bring  upon  itself  additional  expense  to  pro- 
vide the  necessary  hall,  playgrounds,  and  other  con- 
veniences required  to  realize  and  to  make  all  of  these 
activities  most  effective.  But  this  is  a  local  problem 
which  must  be  tackled  and  solved  by  each  community 
for  itself.  The  community  where  the  right  spirit 
prevails  will  realize  that  they  must  make  some  sac- 
rifices. If  a  thing  is  worth  while,  the  proper  means 
must  be  provided.  One  cannot  have  the  benefit 
without  paying  the  cost.  It  is  a  question  as  to  which 
a  community  will  choose:  a  monotonous,  isolated  Hfe 
with  the  accumulation  of  some  money,  or  an  active, 
enthusiastic,  educational,  and  social  life  without  so 
many  dollars.  It  is  really  a  choice  between  money 
with  little  life  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  little  less  money 
with  more  fullness  of  life  on  the  other.  Life,  after 
all,  is  the  only  thing  worth  while,  and  in  progressive 
communities  its  enrichment  will  be  chosen  at  any  cost. 
Here  again  it  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  bring  about 
the  right  spirit  and  attitude  and  the  right  decision 
in  regard  to  all  these  important  questions. 

Organization. — A  community  which  is  socially  and 
educationally  organized  will  need  a  central  post  office 
and  town  hall,  a  community  store,  a  grain  elevator, 
a  church,  and  possibly  other  community  agencies. 
All  of  these  things  tend  to  solidify  and  bring  together 
the  people  at  a  common  center. 

This   suggests   organization   of   some   kind   in    the 


126  THE  SOCIAL  CENTER 

community.  The  old  grange  was  good  in  its  ideal; 
the  purpose  was  to  unite  and  bring  people  together 
for  mutual  help.  There  should  probably  be  a  young 
men's  society  of  some  kind,  and  an  organization  of 
the  girls  and  women  of  the  community.  It  is  true 
that  the  matter  may  be  overdone  and  we  may  have 
such  a  ,thing  as  activity  merely  for  the  sake  of  activity. 
It  was  Carlyle  who  said  that  some  people  are  noted 
for  "fussy  littleness  and  an  infinite  deal  of  nothing." 
The  golden  mean  should  apply  here  as  elsewhere. 

The  Inseparables. — To  bring  aU  of  these  things  about 
requires  talent  and  ingenuity  on  the  part  of  the  leader 
or  leaders;  and  we  come  again  to  the  inseparables 
mentioned  in  a  former,  chapter.  It  will  require  a  great 
personality  to  organize.  The  word  "great"  implies 
a  high  standard;  and  strong  personalities,  such  as  are 
capable  of  managing  a  social  center,  cannot  possibly 
be  secured  without  an  adequate  inducement  in  the 
way  of  salary.  Proper  compensation  carmot  mean 
sixty,  seventy-five,  or  one  hundred  dollars  a  month. 
It  must  mean  also  permanence  of  position.  Again 
we  come  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of  the  teacher 
in  our  solution  of  the  problem  of  rural  life  and  the 
rural  school. 

In  conclusion  it  must  be  said  that  nothing  is  too 
good  for  the  country  which  is  not  too  good  for  the 
city.  The  rural  community  must  determine  to  have 
all  these  good  things  at  any  cost,  if  it  wishes  to  work 
out  its  own  salvation. 


•      CHAPTER  XI 
RURAL   SCHOOL   SUPERVISION 

Important. — Supervision  is  fully  as  important  as 
teaching.  The  supervisor  must  be,  to  even  a  higher 
degree  than  the  teacher,  a  strong  personahty,  and  this 
too  impHes  a  high  standard  and  an  attractive  salary. 
The  supervisor  or  superintendent  must  be  somewhat 
of  an  expert  in  the  methods  of  teaching  all  the  com- 
mon school  subjects.  Not  only  must  he  understand 
school  discipline  and  organization  in  its  details,  but 
he  must  possess  the  ability  to  ''turn  in"  and  exemplify 
his  qualifications  at  any  time.  It  will  be  seen  every- 
where that  the  supervisor  or  superintendent  is  the 
expensive  person;  for,  having  the  elements  of  leader- 
ship, he  is  in  demand  in  educational  positions  as  well 
as  in  outside  callings.  Consequently  it  is  only  by  a 
good  financial  inducement,  as  a  rule,  that  a  competent 
supervisor  can  be  retained  in  the  profession. 

Supervision  Standardizes, — Without  the  superin- 
tendent or  supervisor,  no  common  standard  can  be 
attained  or  maintained.  It  is  he  who  keeps  the  force 
up  to  the  line;  without  him  each  teacher  is  a  law  unto 
himself  and  there  will  be  as  many  standards  as  there 
are  teachers.  Human  nature  is  innately  slothful  and 
negligent,  and  needs  the  spirit  of  supervision  to  keep 

127 


128  RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION 

it  toned  up  to  the  necessary  pitch.  Supervision  over 
a  large  force  of  workers  of  any  kind  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  secure  efficiency,  and  to  keep  service 
up  to  a  high  standard. 

Supervision  Can  Be  Overdone.  —  The  necessity 
for  supervision  is  clearly  felt  in  the  city  systems. 
There  they  have  a  general  superintendent,  principals 
of  buildings,  and  supervisors  in  various  special  lines. 
A  system  of  schools  in  the  city  without  supervision 
would  simply  go  to  pieces.  It  would  soon  cease  to  be 
a  system,  and  would  become  chaotic.  It  may  be, 
it  is  true,  that  in  some  cities  there  is  too  much  super- 
vision; it  may  become  acute  and  pass  the  line  of  true 
efficiency.  Indeed,  in  some  cities  the  red  tape  may 
become  so  complicated  and  systematized  that  it  be- 
comes an  end,  and  schools  and  pupils  seem  to  exist 
for  supervisors  and  systems  instead  of  vice  versa. 
It  is  probably  true  that  the  constant  presence  of  a 
supervisor  who  is  adversely  critical  may-  do  injury 
to  the  efficiency  of  a  good  teacher.  No  one  can  teach 
as  well  under  disapprobation  as  he  can  where  he 
feels  that  his  hands  are  free;  and  so  in  some  places 
supervision  may  act  as  a  wet  blanket.  It  may  sup- 
press spontaneity,  initiative,  and  real  life  in  the  school. 
But  this  is  only  an  abuse  of  a  good  thing,  and  prob- 
ably does  not  occur  frequently.  In  any  event,  the 
exception  would  only  prove  the  rule.  Supervision 
is  as  necessary  in  a  system  of  schools  as  it  is  in  a  rail- 
road or  in  large  industries. 


A  basket  ball  team  for  the  girls 


-^-I^ 

^m 

f^ 

.^^ 

^  w.. 

^m 

m 

ji 

Km^KM^Ki 

r^ 

Pll 

y^ 

P^MmSV^** 

-  --^".^ 

R^ir?^^^.^ 

.-•  -  ---. 

-^'^^- 

A  brass  band  for  the  voung  men 


ACTIVITIES   OF  THE    CONSOLIDATED    SCHOOL 


RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION  129 

Needed  in  Rural  Schools. — The  country  partakes  of 
the  same  isolation  in  regard  to  its  schools  as  it  does  in 
regard  to  Hfe  in  general.  This  isolation  is  accentuated 
where  there  is  little  or  no  supervision.  Without 
it,  the  necessary  stimulus  seldom  or  never  touches 
the  life  of  the  teacher  or  the  school.  There  is  little 
uplift;  the  school  runs  along  in  its  ordinary,  hum- 
drum fashion,  and  never  measures  itself  with  other 
schools,  and  is  seldom  measured  by  a  supervisor.  ^  A 
poor  teacher  may  be  in  the  chair  one  term  and  a 
good  teacher  another..  The  terms  are  short  and  the 
service  somewhat  disconnected.  The  whole  situation 
gives  the  impression  to  people,  pupils,  and  teacher 
that  education  is  not  of  very  great  value. 

No  Supervision  in  Some  States. — In  some  states 
there  is  practically  no  supervision.  There  is,  it  is  true, 
a  district  board  but  these  are  laymen,  often  uneducated, 
and  knowing  little  of  the  teacher's  profession.  They 
have  no  standards  for  judging  a  school  and  seldom 
visit  one.  ^  The  selection  known  as  the  "Deestrict 
Skule"  illustrates  fairly  well  the  ability  of  the  local 
lay-board  to  pass  judgment  upon  the  professional 
merits  of  the  teacher. 

Nominal  Supervision. — In  other  states  there  is  a 
county  superintendent  on  part  time  who  has  a  kind 
of  general  but  attenuated  supervision  over  all  the 
schools  of  a  county.  He  is  usually  engaged  in  some 
other  line  of  work — in  business,  in  medicine,  in  law, 
in  preaching — and  can  give  only  a  small  portion  of 

Rural  Life — 9 


I30  RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION 

his  time  to  the  work  of  superintendence.  Indeed, 
this  means  only  an  occasional  visit  to  the  school, 
probably  once  every  one  or  two  years,  and  such  simple 
and  necessary  reports  as  are  demanded  by  the  state 
superintendent  or  State  Board  of  Education.  Such 
superintendence  is  merely  a  sham  and  a  pretense.  He 
may  visit  a  teacher  to-day,  but  the  next  time  he  enters 
that  same  school  he  is  Hkely  to  find  another  teacher. 
Under  such  circumstances  he  can  be  of  little  ser\dce. 
He  has  seen  the  work  of  the  teacher  for  half  an  hour 
or  an  hour;  he  passes  some  comphmentary  remarks 
and  goes  his  way.  Such  supervision  is  worthless;  in- 
deed, it  may  be  worse  than  none,  for  it  leaves  the 
impression  on  the  pubhc  that  there  is  supervision 
when  in  reality  there  is  none. 

Some  Supervision. — Elsewhere  we  find  county  super- 
intendents who  devote  their  whole  time  to  the  work, 
but  who  are  chosen  for  short  terms  and  in  a  political 
campaign.  Under  such  circumstances  the  candidate 
must  be  a  resident  of  the  county  and  he  is  elected 
for  political,  as  much  as  for  educational,  reasons.  If 
he  is  politically  minded — and  the  probabilities  are 
that  such  is  the  case — he  will  spend  much  of  his  time, 
energy,  and  thought  in  electioneering  for  another 
term.  Being  a  candidate  for  reelection,  his  constant 
thought  is  to  impress  the  public  mind  in  his  favor^ 
In  order  to  keep  himself  constantly  in  the  pubhc  eye, 
he  even  prints  blanks  of  various  kinds  for  class  and 
school  reporting,  on  which  his  name  always  appears. 


RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION  131 

Being  elected  for  only  two  years,  he  has  not  the  time  to 
carry  out  any  educational  pohcy  even  if  he  had  the 
ability  and  inclination  to  do  so. ""  Of  course  many  per- 
sons chosen  in  this  way  make  excellent  and  efficient 
officers,  but  the  plan  is  bad.  The  good  superintendent 
frequently  loses  out  soonest. 

An  Impossible  Task. — Superintendents  sometimes 
have  under  their  jurisdiction  from  one  hundred  to 
two  hundred,  or  even  more,  schools  separated  by  long 
distances.  The  law  usually  prescribes  that  the  county 
superintendent  shall  visit  each  school  at  least  once 
a  year.  This  means  that  practically  he  will  do  no 
more  ^  indeed  it  is  often  impossible  to  do  more.  It 
means  that  his  visits  must  of  necessity  be  a  mere 
perfunctory  call  of  an  hour  or  two's  duration  \vith  no 
opportunity  to  see  the  same  teacher  again  at  work 
to  determine  whether  or  not  she  is  making  progress, 
and  whether  she  is  carrying  out  his  instructions. 
Such  so-called  supervision,  or  superintendence,  is 
really  not  supervision  at  all,  but  a  mere  farce. 
The  superintendent  is  only  a  clerical  officer  who  does 
the  work  required  by  law,  and  makes  incidentally 
an  annual  social  visit  to  the  schools. 

The  Problem  Not  Tackled. — Such  a  situation  is 
another  evidence  that  the  states  which  tolerate  the 
foregoing  conditions  have  not,  in  any  real  and  earnest 
manner,  attempted  to  solve  the  problem  of  rural  school 
supervision.  They  have  merely  let  things  drift  along 
as  they  would,  not  fully  realizing  the  problem  or  else 


132  RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION 

trusting  to  time  to  come  to  their  aid.  Micawber- 
like,  they  are  waiting  for  "something  to  turn  up." 
But  such  problems  mil  not  solve  themselves. 

City  Supervision. — Compare  the  supervision  de-^ 
scribed  above  with  that  which  is  usually  found  in 
cities.  There  we'  usually  find  a  general  superintendent 
and  assistant  superintendents;  there  are  high  school 
principals  and  a  principal  at  the  head  of  every  grade 
building;  there  is  also  a  supervisor  of  manual  training, 
of  domestic  science,  of  music,  of  drawing,  and  possibly 
of  other  subjects.  When  we  consider,  too,  that  the 
teachers  in  the  city  are  all  close  at  hand  and  that  the 
supervisor  or  superintendent  may  drop  into  any  room 
at  any  time  with  scarcely  a  minute's  notice,  we  see  the 
difference  between  city  supervision  and  country  super- 
vision. Add  to  this  the  fact  that  cities  attract  the 
strong  teachers — the  professionally  trained  teachers, 
the  output  of  the  professional  schools — and  we  can 
see  again  how  effective  supervision  becomes  in  the 
city  as  compared  with  that  in  the  country.  In  the 
country  we  find  only  one  superintendent  for  a  county 
often  as  large  as  some  of  the  older  states,  and  the 
possibility  of  visiting  each  school  only  about  once  a 
year.  Here  also  are  the  teachers  who  are  not  pro- 
fessionalized, as  a  rule,  and  who,  therefore,  need 
supervision  most. 

The  Purpose  of  Supervision. — The  main  purpose  of 
supervision  is  to  bring  teachers  up  to  a  required  stand- 
ard of  excellence  in  their  work  and  to  keep  them  there. 


RURAL   SCHOOL   SUPERVISION  1 33 

It  is  always  the  easiest  plan  to  dismiss  a  teacher  who 
is  found  deficient,  but  this  is  cutting  the  knot  rather 
than  untying  it.  Efficient  and  intelligent  supervis- 
ion proceeds  along  the  line  of  building  such  a  teacher 
up,  of  making  her  strong  where  she  is  weak,  of  giving 
her  initiative  where  she  lacks  it,  of  inculcating  good 
methods  where  she  is  pursuing  poor  ones,  of  inducing 
her  to  come  out  of  her  shell  where  she  is  backward 
and  diffident.  In  other  words,  the  great  work  of  the 
supervisor  is  to  elicit  from  teachers  their  most  active 
and  hearty  response  in  all  positive  directions.  It 
should  be  understood  by  teachers — and  they  should 
know  that  the  superintendent  or  supervisor  indorses 
the  idea — that  it  is  always  better  to  go  ahead  and 
blunder  than  to  stand  still  for  fear  of  blundering;  and 
so,  in  the  presence  of  a  good  supervisor,  the  teacher 
is  not  afraid  to  let  herself  out.  In  the  conference, 
later,  between  herself  and  her  supervisor,  mistakes 
may  be  pointed  out;  but,  better  than  this,  the  best 
traits  of  the  teacher  should  be  brought  to  her  mind 
and  the  weak  ones  but  lightly  referred  to. 

What  Is  Needed. — Wliat  is  needed  in  the  rural 
situation  is  a  county  superintendent  chosen  because 
of  his  professional  fitness  by  a  county  board  whose 
members  have  been  elected  at  large.  This  board 
should  be  elected  on  a  nonpartisan  ticket  and  so 
far  as  possible  on  a  basis  of  qualification  and  of  good 
judgment  in  educational  matters.  It  should  hold  office 
for  a  period  of  years,  some  members  retiring  from  the 


134  RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION 

board  annually  so  that  there  shall  not  be,  at  any 
time,  an  entirely  new  board.  This  would  insure  con- 
tinuity. Another  plan  for  a  county  board  would  be 
to  have  the  presidents  of  the  district  boards  act  as  a 
county  board  of  education.  Such  a  board  should  be 
authorized — and  indeed  this  tradition  should  be 
established — to  select  a  county  superintendent  from 
applicants  from  outside  as  well  as  inside  the  county. 
They  should  be  empowered  to  go  anywhere  in  the 
country  for  a  superintendent  with  a  reputation  in 
the  teaching  profession.  This  is  the  present  plan  in 
cities,  and  it  should  be  true  also  in  the  selection  of  a 
county  superintendent. 

The  Term.— The  term  of  office  of  the  county  super- 
intendent should  be  at  the  discretion  of  the  county 
board.  It  should  be  not  less  than  three  or  four  years 
— of  sufficient  length  to  enable  a  man  to  carry  out  a 
line  of  pohcy  in  educational  administration.  The 
status  of  the  county  superintendency  should  be  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  city  superintendency. 

Assistants. — The  county  board  should  be  empowered 
to  provide  assistants  for  the  county  superintendent. 
There  should  be  one  such  assistant  for  about  thirty 
or  thirty-five  schools.  It  is  almost  impossible  for  a 
supervisor  to  do  efficient  and  effective  work  if  he 
has  more  than  this  number  of  schools,  located,  as 
they  are,  some  distance  apart.  Provision  for  such 
assistants,  who  should,  like  the  superintendent  him- 
self, be  experts,  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that 


RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION  135 

supervision  is  worth  while,  and  in  fact  necessary  in 
any  system  if  success  is  to  be  attained.  If  the  super- 
vision of  thirty-five  schools  is  an  important  piece  of 
work  it  should  be  well  done,  and  a  person  well  quali- 
fied for  that  work  should  be  selected.  He  should  be 
a  person  of  sympathetic  attitude,  of  high  qualifica- 
tions, and  of  experience  in  the  field  of  elementary 
education.  The  assistants  should  be  carefully  selected 
by  the  board  on  the  recommendation  of  the  county 
superintendent.  Poor  supervision  is  little  better  than 
none. 

The  Schools  Examined. — The  county  superintendent 
and  his  assistants  should  give,  periodically,  oral  and 
written  examinations  in  each  school,  thus  testing  the 
work  of  both  the  teacher  and  the  pupils.  These 
examinations  should  not  conform  in  any  perfunctory 
or  red-tape  manner  to  a  literally  construed  course  of 
study.  The  course  of  study  is  a  means  and  not  an 
end,  and  should  be,  at  all  points  and  times,  elastic  and 
adaptable.  To  make  pupils  fit  the  course  of  study 
instead  of  making  the  course  of  study  fit  the  pupils  is 
the  old  method  of  the  Procrustean  bed — if  the  person 
is  not  long  enough  for  it  he  is  stretched;  if  too  long, 
a  piece  is  cut  off.  Any  examination  or  tests  which 
would  wake  up  mind  and  stimulate  education  in  the 
neighborhood  may  be  resorted  to;  but  it  should  be 
remembered  that  examinations  are  likewise  a  means 
and  not  an  end. 

Some  years  ago  when  I  was  a  county  superintendent 


136  RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION 

I  tried  the  plan  of  giving  such  tests  in  any  subject 
to  classes  that  had  completed  a  definite  portion  of 
that  subject  and  arrived  at  a  good  stopping  place. 
If,  for  example,  the  teacher  announced  that  his  class 
had  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  multiplica- 
tion table,  I  gave  a  searching  test  upon  that  subject 
and  issued  a  simple  little  certificate  to  the  effect  that 
the  pupil  had  completed  it.  These  little  certificates 
acted  like  stakes  put  down  along  the  way,  to  give  in- 
centive, direction,  and  definiteness  to  the  educative 
processes,  and  to  stimulate  a  reasonable  class  spirit  or 
individual  rivalry.  I  meet  these  pupils  occasionally 
now — they  are  to-day  grown  men  and  women — and 
they  retain  in  their  possession  these  little  colored 
certificates  which  they  still  highly  prize. 

One  portion  of  my  county  was  populated  almost 
entirely  by  Scandinavians,  and  here  a  list  of  fifty  to 
a  hundred  words  was  selected  which  Scandinavian 
children  always  find  it  difficult  to  pronounce.  At 
the  first  trial  many  or  most  of  the  children  mispro- 
nounced a  large  percentage  of  them.  I  then  an- 
nounced that,  the  next  time  I  visited  the  school, 
I  would  test  the  pupils  again  on  these  words  and 
others  like  them,  and  issue  "certificates  of  correct 
pronunciation"  to  all  who  were  entitled  to  them.  I 
found,  on  the  next  visit,  that  nearly  all  the  children 
could  secure  these  certificates.  These  tests  created  a 
great  impetus  in  the  direction  of  correct  pronunciation 
and  language.    Some  teachers,  from  mistaken  kindness, 


RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION  137 

had  been  accustomed  to  refrain  from  correcting  the 
children  on  such  words,  but  as  superintendent  I  found 
that  both  the  parents  and  the  children  wished  drill 
in  pronunciation  and  were  gratified  at  their  success. 
This  is  only  a  sample.  I  would  advocate  the  giving 
of  tests,  or  examinations,  on  any  subject  in  the  school 
likely  to  lead  to  good  results  and  to  stimulate  the 
minds  of  the  pupils  in  the  right  direction.  The  county 
superintendent  and  his  assistants  might  agree  to  lay 
the  accent  or  the  emphasis  on  different  subjects,  or 
Knes  of  work,  in  diflerent  years. 

Keep  Down  Red  Tape. — In  all  the  work  of  super- 
vision, the  formal  part — the  accounting  and  reporting 
part — should  be  kept  simple;  the  tendency  everywhere 
in  administrative  offices  is  in  the  direction  of  com- 
plexity and  red  tape.  There  seems  to  be  so  much 
form  merely  for  the  sake  of  form,  everywhere,  that 
it  is  worth  while  to  sound  a  note  of  warning  against  it. 

Help  the  Social  Centers. — The  county  superin- 
tendent and  his  assistants  can  be  of  inestimable  value 
in  all  the  work  of  the  social  centers.  They  should 
advise  with  school  boards  in  regard  to  consolidation 
and  other  problems  agitating  the  community.  They 
should  lend  a  helping  hand  to  programs  that  are  being 
carried  out  in  any  part  of  the  county.  They  should 
give  lectures  themselves  at  such  social  centers  and, 
if  asked,  should  help  the  local  communities  and  local 
committees  in  every  way  within  their  power. 

Conclusion. — The   problem,    then,    of   superintend- 


138  RURAL  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION 

ence  is,  we  conclude,  one  of  the  large  and  important 
problems  awaiting  solution  in  rural  life  and  in  rural 
schools.  It  is  the  binding  force  that  will  help  to  unify 
all  the  educational  activities  of  the  county.  It  is 
one  of  the  chief  stimulating  and  uplifting  influences  in 
rural  education.  As  in  the  case  of  most  other  school 
problems,  the  constant  surprise  is  that  the  people 
have  not  awakened  sooner  to  the  realization  of  its 
importance  and  to  an  honest  and  earnest  attempt  at 
its  solution. 


CHAPTER  XII 

LEADERSHIP   AND    COOPERATION 

The  Real  Leader. — Real  leadership  is  a  scarce  and 
choice  article;  true  leaders  are  few  and  far  between. 
The  best  kind  of  leader  is  not  one  who  attempts  to 
be  at  the  head  of  every  movement  and  to  do  every- 
thing himself,  but  rather  he  who  makes  the  greatest 
number  of  people  active  in  his  cause.  It  frequently 
happens  that  the  more  a  leader  does  himself,  the  less 
his  followers  are  inclined  to  do.  The  more  active 
he  is,  the  more  passive  they  are  likely  to  become. 
As  teaching  is  causing  others  to  know  and  react  edu- 
cationally, so  genuine  leadership  is  causing  others 
to  become  active  in  the  direction  of  the  leader's  pur- 
pose, or  aim.  Some  who  pose  as  leaders  seek  to  be 
conspicuous  in  every  movement,  merely  to  attract 
attention  to  themselves.  They  bid  for  direct  and 
immediate  recognition  instead  of  being  content  with 
the  more  remote,  indirect,  but  truer  and  more  sub- 
stantial reward  of  recognition  through  their  followers 
who  are  active  in  their  leader's  cause.  The  poor 
leader  does  not  think  that  there  is  glory  enough  for 
all,  and  so  he  monopolizes  all  he  can  of  it,  leaving  the 
remainder  to  those  who  probably  do  the  greater  part 

139 


I40  LEADERSHIP  AND   COOPERATION 

of  the  work  and  deserve  as  much  credit  as  he.  The 
spectacular  football  player  who  ignores  the  team 
and  team  work,  in  order  to  attract  attention  by  his 
individual  plays,  is  not  the  best  leader  or  the  best 
player.  The  real  leader  will  frequently  be  content 
to  see  things  somewhat  poorly  done  or  not  so  well 
done,  in  order  that  his  followers  may  pass  through 
the  experience  of  doing  them.  It  is  only  by  having 
such  experiences  that  followers  are  enabled,  in  turn, 
to  become  leaders. 

Teaching  vs.  Telling. — As  has  been  shown  in  an 
earlier  chapter,  the  lack  of  leadership  is  frequently 
exhibited  in  the  classroom  when  the  teacher,  instead 
of  inducing  self-activity  and  self-expression  on  the 
part  of  the  pupils,  proceeds  to  recite  the  whole  lesson 
himself.  He  asks  leading  questions  and  then,  at  the 
slightest  hesitation  on  the  part  of  a  pupil,  he  suggests 
the  answer;  he  asks  another  leading  question  from 
another  point  of  view;  he  puts  words  into  the  mouth 
of  the  pupil  who  is  trying  in  a  pitiable  way  to  recite; 
and  ends  by  covering  the  topic  all  over  with  words, 
words,  words  of  his  own.  This  is  poor  leadership 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  gives  no  opportunity 
for  real  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  pupils.  The 
teacher  takes  all  the  glory  of  reciting,  and  leaves  the 
pupil  without  an  opportunity  or  the  reward  of  self- 
expression. 

Enlisting  the  Cooperation  of  Pupils. — All  children 
— and  in  fact  all  people — if  approached  or  stimulated 


LEADERSHIP  AND  COOPERATION        14 1 

in  the  proper  way — like  to  do  things,  to  perform 
services  for  others.  A  pupil  always  considers  it  a 
compliment  to  be  asked  by  his  teacher  to  do  some- 
thing for  him,  if  the  relations  between  the  teacher  and 
pupil  are  normal  and  cordial.  This  must,  of  course, 
be  the  case  if  any  truly  educative  response  is  to  be 
elicited.  Socrates  once  said  that  a  person  cannot 
learn  from  one  whom  he  does  not  love.  The  relation 
between  pupil  and  teacher  should  be  one  of  mutual 
love  and  respect,  if  the  educational  process  is  to 
obtain.  If  this  relation  does  not  exist,  the  first  duty 
of  the  teacher  is  to  bring  it  about.  Sometimes  this 
is  difficult.  I  once  heard  a  teacher  say  that  it  took 
him  about  three  weeks  to  establish  this  relation  be- 
tween himself  and  one  of  his  pupils.  He  finally  in- 
vited the  pupil  out  hunting  with  him  one  Saturday, 
and  after  that  they  were  the  best  of  friends.  The 
pupil  became  one  of  the  leaders  in  his  school  and  his 
cooperation  was  secured  from  that  time  forward. 
In  this  instance  the  teacher  showed  marked  leadership 
as  well  as  practical  knowledge  of  psycholog}'  and 
pedagog}'.  Francis  Murphy,  the  great  temperance 
orator,  understood  both  leadership  and  cooperation, 
for  he  always,  as  he  said,  made  it  a  point  to  approach 
a  man  from  the  "south  side." 

A  pupil,  if  approached  in  the  right  way,  will  do 
anything  in  his  power  for  his  teacher.  There  may  be 
times  when  wood  or  fuel  must  be  pro\'ided,  when  the 
room  must  be  swept  and  cleaned,  when  little  repairs 


142  LEADERSHIP  AND   COOPERATION 

become  necessary,  or  an  errand  must  be  performed.  In 
such  situations,  if  the  teacher  is  a  real  leader  and 
if  his  school  and  he  are  en  rapport,  volunteers  will 
vie  with  each  other  for  the  privilege  of  carrying  out 
the  teacher's  wishes.  This  would  indicate  genuine 
leadership  and  cooperation. 

Placing  Responsibility. — Whether  in  school  or  some 
other  station  in  life,  there  is  scarcely  anything  that 
so  awakens  and  develops  the  best  that  is  in  either  man 
or  child  as  the  placing  of  responsibility.  Every  person 
is  educated  and  made  greater  according  to  the  measure 
of  responsibility  that  is  given  to  him  and  that  he  is 
able  to  live  up  to.  While  it  is  true  that  too  great  a 
measure  of  responsibility  might  be  given,  this  is  no 
reasonable  excuse  for  withholding  it  altogether  for 
fear  the  burden  would  be  too  great.  There  is  a  wide 
middle  ground  between  no  responsibility  and  too 
much  of  it,  and  it  is  in  this  field  that  leader- 
ship and  cooperation  can  be  displayed  to  much  ad- 
vantage. The  greater  danger  lies  in  not  giving 
sufficient  responsibility  to  children  and  youths.  It 
is  well  known  that,  in  parts  of  our  country,  where 
men  who  have  been  proved  to  be,  or  are  strongly  sus- 
pected of  being  crooked,  have  been  placed  upon  the 
bench  to  mete  out  justice,  they  have  usually  risen  to 
the  occasion  and  to  their  better  ideals,  and  have  not 
betrayed  the  trust  reposed  in  them,  or  the  responsi- 
bility placed  upon  them.  There  is  probably  no  finer 
body  of  men  in  America  than  our  railroad  engineers; 


LEADERSHIP  AND   COOPERATION  1 43 

and  while  it  may  be  true  that  they  are  picked  in  a 
measure,  it  is  also  true  that  their  responsible  posi- 
tions and  work  bring  out  their  best  manhood.  As 
they  sit  or  stand  at  the  throttle,  with  hand  upon 
the  lever  and  eyes  on  the  lookout  for  danger,  and 
as  they  feel  the  heart-throbs  of  their  engine  drawing 
its  precious  freight  of  a  thousand  souls  through 
the  darkness  and  the  storm,  they  cannot  help  realiz- 
ing that  this  is  real  life  invested  with  great  respon- 
sibilities; and  with  this  thought  ever  before  them, 
they  become  men  who  can  be  trusted  anywhere. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  Abraham  Lincoln's  mettle 
was  tempered  to  the  finest  quality  in  the  fires  of  the 
great  struggle  from  i860  to  1865,  when  every  hour  of  his 
waking  days  was  fraught  with  the  greatest  responsibility. 
How  People  Remain  Children.  —  If  children  and 
young  people  are  not  given  responsibilities  they  are 
likely  to  remain  children.  The  old  adage,  "Don't 
send  a  boy  to  mill,"  is  thoroughly  vicious  if  applied 
beyond  a  narrow  and  youthful  range.  In  some 
neighborhoods  the  fathers  even  when  of  an  advanced 
age  retain  entire  control  of  the  farm  and  of  all  activ- 
ities, and  the  younger  generation  are  called  the  ''boys," 
and,  what  is  worse,  are  considered  such  till  forty  years 
of  age  or  older — in  fact  as  long  as  the  fathers  live  and 
are  active.  A  "boy"  is  called  "Johnnie,"  "Jimmie," 
or  "Tommie,"  and  is  never  chosen  to  do  jury  duty  or 
to  occupy  any  position  connected  in  the  local  public 
mind  mth  a  man's  work.    The  father  in  such  cases  is 


144        LEADERSHIP  AND  COOPERATION 

not  a  good  leader,  for  he  has  given  no  responsibility  to, 
and  receives  no  genuine  cooperation  from,  his  sons, 
who  are  really  man  grown,  but  who  are  regarded, 
even  by  themselves,  from  habit  and  suggestion,  as 
children.  If  these  middle-aged  men  should  move  to 
another  part  of  the  country  they  would  be  compelled 
to  stand  upon  their  own  feet,  and  would  be  regarded 
as  men  among  men.  They  would  be  called  Mr. 
Jones,  Mr.  Smith,  and  Mr.  Brown,  instead  of  dimin- 
utive and  pet  names;  and,  what  is  better,  they  would 
regard  themselves  as  men.  This  would  be  a  whole- 
some and  stimulating  suggestion.  Hence  Horace 
Greeley's  advice  to  young  men,  to  "Go  West,"  would 
prove  beneficial  in  more  ways  than  one. 

This  state  of  affairs  is  illustrated  on  a  large  scale 
by  the  Chinese  life  and  civilization.  From  time  im- 
memorial the  Chinese  have  been  taught  to  regard 
themselves  as  children,  and  the  emperor  as  the  common 
father  of  all.  The  head  of  the  family  is  the  head  as  long 
as  he  lives  and  all  his  descendants  are  mere  sons  and 
daughters.  When  he  dies  he  is  the  object  of  worship. 
This  custom  has  tended  to  influence  in  a  large  measure 
the  thought  and  hfe  of  China  and  to  keep  the  Chinese, 
for  untold  generations,  a  childlike  and  respectful 
people.  Whatever  may  come  to  pass  under  the  new 
regime,  recently  established  in  their  country,  they 
have  been,  since  the  dawn  of  history,  a  passive  people, 
the  majority  of  whom  have  not  been  honored  with  any 
great  measure  of  responsibility. 


LEADERSHIP  AND   COOPERATION  14$ 

On  the  Farm. — Such  lessons  from  history,  written 
large,  are  as  applicable  in  rural  life  as  elsewhere. 
Cooperation  and  profit-sharing  are  probably  the 
key  to  the  solution  of  the  labor  problem.  Many 
industrial  leaders  in  various  lines,  notably  Mr.  Henry 
Ford  in  his  automobile  factories  in  Detroit,  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  cooperation,  or  some  kind  of 
profit-sharing  by  the  rank  and  file  of  the  workers,  is 
of  mutual  benefit  to  employer  and  laborer.  The 
interest  of  workers  must  be  enlisted  for  their  own 
good  as  well  as  for  the  good  of  society  at  large.  It 
induces  the  right  attitude  toward  work  on  the  part  of 
the  worker,  and  the  right  attitude  of  employer  and 
employee  toward  each  other.  This  leads  to  the  sol- 
idarity of  society  and  the  integrity  of  the  social  bond. 
It  tends  to  establish  harmony  and  to  bring  content- 
ment to  both  parties. 

Renters. — The  renter  of  a  farm  must  have  sufiicient 
interest  in  it  and  in  all  its  acti\aties  to  improve  it  in 
every  respect,  rather  than  to  allow  it  to  deteriorate 
by  getting  out  of  it  everything  possible,  and  then 
leaving  it,  like  a  squeezed  orange,  to  repeat  the  opera- 
tion elsewhere.  A  farm,  in  order  to  yield  its  best  and  to 
increase  in  production  and  value,  must  be  managed 
'TN'ith  care,  foresight,  and  scientific  understanding.  There 
must  be,  among  other  things,  a  careful  rotation  of  crops 
and  the  rearing  of  good  breeds  of  animals  of  various 
kinds.  But  these  things  cannot  be  intrusted  to  the  mere 
renter  or  the  hired  man  who  is  nothing  more.     These 

Rural  Life — 10 


146  LEADERSHIP   AND   COOPERATION 

are  not  sufficiently  interested.  The  man  who  suc- 
cessfully manages  a  farm  must  be  interested  in  it  and 
in  its  various  phases,  whether  he  be  a  renter  or  a  worker. 
He  must  be  careful,  watchful,  industrious,  intelligent, 
and  a  lover  of  domestic  animals;  otherwise  the  farm 
will  go  backward  and  the  stock  will  not  thrive  and  be 
productive  of  profits.  The  man  who  drives  a  farm 
to  a  successful  issue  must  be  a  leader,  and,  if  he  is 
not  the  owner,  he  must  cooperate  with  the  owner 
in  order  that  there  may  be  interest,  which  is  the  great 
essential. 

The  Owner. — If  the  farm  is  operated  by  the  owner 
himself  and  his  family,  there  is  still  greater  need  of 
leadership  on  the  part  of  the  father  and  of  cooperation 
on  the  part  of  all.  Money  and  profits  are  not  the  only 
motives  or  the  only  results  and  rewards  that  come  to 
a  family  in  rural  life.  As  the  children  grow  up  to 
adult  life,  both  boys  and  girls,  for  their  own  education 
and  development  in  leadership  and  in  cooperation, 
should  be  given  some  share  in  the  business,  some 
interest  which  they  can  call  their  own,  and  whose 
success  and  increase  will  depend  on  their  attention, 
care,  and  industry.  That  father  is  a  wise  leader  who 
can  enlist  the  active  cooperation  of  all  his  family 
for  the  good  of  each  and  of  all.  Such  leadership 
and  cooperation  are  the  best  forms  and  means 
of  education,  and  lead  inevitably  to  good  citizenship. 
How  often  do  we  see  a  grasping,  churlish  father  whose 
leadership  is  maintained  by  fear  and  force  and  whose 


LEADERSHIP  AND  COOPERATION  147 

family  fade  away,  one  by  one,  as  they  come  to  adoles- 
cence. There  is  no  cementing  force  in  such  a  household, 
and  the  centrifugal  forces  which  take  the  place  of 
true  leadership  and  cordial  cooperation  soon  do  their 
work. 

The  Teacher  as  a  Leader. — We  have  already 
spoken  of  the  teacher  as  the  natural  leader  of  the 
activities  of  a  social  center,  or  of  a  community.  In 
such  situations  the  teacher  should  be  a  real  leader, 
not  one  who  wishes  or  attempts  to  be  the  direct  and 
actual  leader  in  every  activity,  but  one  "who  gets 
things  done"  through  the  secondary  leadership  of  a 
score  or  more  of  men,  boys,  and  girls.  The  leader 
in  a  consolidated  district,  or  social  center,  who  should 
attempt  to  bring  all  the  glory  upon  himself  by  im- 
mediate leadership  would  be  like  the  teacher  who 
insists  on  doing  all  the  reciting  for  his  pupils.  That 
would  be  a  false  and  short-lived  leadership.  Hence 
the  teacher  who  is  a  true  leader  will  keep  himself 
somewhat  in  the  background  while,  at  the  same 
time,  he  is  the  hidden  mainspring,  the  power  behind 
the  throne.  "It  is  the  highest  art  to  conceal  art." 
Fitch,  in  his  lectures  on  teaching,  says  that  the  teacher 
and  the  leader  should  "keep  the  machinery  in  the 
background."  The  teacher  should  start  things  going 
by  suggestion  and  keep  them  going  by  his  presence, 
his  attitude,  and  his  silent  participation. 

Too  much  participation  and  direction  are  fatal  to  the 
active  cooperation  and  secondary  leadership  of  others. 


I4S  LEADERSHIP  AND   COOPERATION 

Hence  the  teacher  will  bring  about,  in  his  own  good 
time  and  way,  the  organization  of  a  baseball  team 
under  the  direction  of  a  captain  chosen  by  the  boys. 
The  choice,  it  is  true,  may  probably  be  inspired  by 
the  teacher.  The  same  would  take  place  in  regard 
to  every  game,  sport,  or  activity,  mental,  social,  or 
physical,  in  the  community.  The  danger  always  is 
that  the  initial  leader  may  become  too  dominant.  It 
is  hard  on  flesh  and  blood  to  resist  the  temptation  to 
be  lionized.  But  it  is  incomparably  better  to  have 
partial  or  almost  total  failures  under  self-government 
than  to  be  governed  by  a  benevolent  and  beneficent 
autocrat.  And  so  it  is  much  better  that  boys  and  girls 
work  out  their  own  salvation  under  leaders  of  their 
own  choice,  than  to  be  told  to  organize,  and  to  do 
thus  and  so.  It  requires  a  rare  power  of  self-control 
in  a  real  leader  to  be  compelled  to  witness  only  partial 
success  and  crude  performance  under  secondary 
leaders  groping  toward  success,  and  still  be  silent  and 
patient.  But  this  is  the  true  process  of  education — 
self-activity  and  self-government. 

Self-activity  and  Self-government. — In  order  to 
develop  initiative,  which  is  the  same  thing,  prac- 
tically, as  leadership,  opportunity  must  be  given  for 
free  self-activity.  Children  and  adults  alike,  if  they 
are  to  grow,  must  be  induced  to  do.  It  is  always  better 
to  go  ahead  and  blunder  than  to  stand  still  for  fear  of 
blundering.  Many  kind  mothers  fondly  wish — and 
frequently  attempt  to  enforce  their  wish — that  chil- 


LEADERSHIP  AND   COOPERATION  149 

dren  should  learn  how  to  swim  without  going  into  the 
water.  Children  see  the  folly  of  this  and,  in  order 
not  to  disturb  the  calm  and  peace  of  the  household, 
slip  away  to  a  neighboring  creek  or  swimming-hole, 
for  which  they  ever  after  retain  the  most  cherished 
memories.  In  later  years  when  all  danger  is  over 
these  grown-up  children  smilingly  and  jokingly  reveal 
the  mysteries  of  the  trick!  Children  cannot  learn 
to  climb  trees  without  climbing  trees,  or  to  ride  calves 
and  colts  without  the  real  animals.  Some  chances  must 
be  taken  by  parents  and  guardians,  and  more  chances 
are  usually  taken  by  children  than  their  guardians 
ever  hear  of.  Accidents  will  happen,  it  is  true,  but 
in  the  wise  provision  of  Mother  Nature  the  world 
moves  on  through  these  persistent  and  instinctive 
self-activities. 

Self-activity  is  manifested  on  a  larger  scale  in  society 
and  among  nations  and  peoples.  Civilization  is 
brought  about  through  self-activity  and  cooperation. 
It  were  better  for  the  Filipinos  to  civilize  themselves 
as  much  as  possible  than  that  we  impose  civilization 
upon  them.  It  is  better  that  Mexico  bring  peace 
into  her  own  household,  than  that  we  take  the  leader- 
ship and  enforce  order  among  her  people.  Wlien  the 
Irish  captain  said  to  his  soldiers,  "If  you  don't  obey 
willingly  I'll  make  you  obey  willingly,"  he  fused 
into  one  the  military  and  the  truly  civic  and  educa- 
tional conceptions.  An  individual  or  a  nation  must 
energize  from  mthin  outward  in  order  to  truly  ex- 


I50  LEADERSHIP  AND  COOPERATION 

press  itself  and  thus  develop  in  the  best  sense.  Hence 
in  any  community  the  development  of  self-expression, 
self-activity,  and  cooperation  under  true  leadership 
is  conducive  to  the  highest  type  of  individuality  and 
of  citizenship. 

Taking  Laws  upon  One's  Self. — It  is  under  proper 
leadership  and  cooperation  that  children  and  young 
people  are  induced  to  take  laws  upon  themselves. 
It  is  always  a  joy  to  a  parent  or  a  teacher  when  a 
pupil  expresses  himself  with  some  emotion  to  the 
effect  that  such  and  such  a  deed  is  an  "outrage," 
or  "fine"  as  the  case  may  be.  It  is  an  indication 
that  he  has  adopted  a  life  principle  which  he  means 
to'live  by,  and  that  it  has  been  made  his  own  to  such 
an  extent  that  he  expresses  and  commits  himself  upon 
it  with  such  feeling.  Moralization  consists  in  just 
this  process — the  taking  upon  one's  self  of  a  bundle 
of  good  life  principles.  Under  the  right  kind  of 
leadership  and  cooperation  this  moralizing  process 
grows  most  satisfactorily.  Children  then  take  upon 
themselves  laws  and  become  self-governing  and  law- 
abiding. 

An  Educational  Column. — One  of  the  best  means 
of  creating  an  atmosphere  and  spirit  of  education 
and  culture  in  a  community  is  to  conduct  an  "edu- 
cational column"  in  the  local  newspaper.  The  teacher 
as  a  real  leader  in  the  community  could  furnish  the 
matter  for  such  a  column  once  every  two  weeks  or  once 
a  month,  and,  before  long,  if  he  is  the  leader  we  speak 


LEADERSHIP  AND   COOPERATION  151 

of,  the  people  will  begin  to  look  eagerly  for  this  colurrm ; 
they  will  turn  to  it  first  on  receiving  their  paper. 
Here  items  of  interest  on  almost  any  subject  might 
be  discussed.  The  column  need  not  be  limited  nar- 
rowly to  technically  educational  topics.  The  author 
of  such  a  column  could  thus  create  and  build  up  in  a 
community  the  right  kind  of  traditions  and  a  good 
spirit,  tone,  and  temper  generally.  His  influence 
would  be  potent  outside  the  schoolroom  and  he 
would  have  in  his  power  the  shaping  and  the  guiding 
of  the  social,  or  community  mind.  It  is  wonderful 
what  can  be  done  in  this  way  by  a  prudent,  intelligent, 
and  interesting  writer.  The  community  soon  will  wish, 
after  the  column  has  been  read  through,  that  he  had 
written  more.     This  would  be  an  encouraging  sign. 

All  Along  the  Educational  Line. — The  kind  of 
leadership  and  cooperation  indicated  in  this  chapter 
should  be  exemplified  through  the  entire  common- 
school  system.  It  should  obtain  between  the  state 
superintendent  and  the  county  superintendents;  be- 
tween the  county  superintendents  and  their  deputies, 
or  assistants  on  the  one  hand  and  the  principals  of 
schools  on  the  other;  between  principals  and  teachers; 
and  between  teachers  and  pupils.  It  should  exist 
between  all  of  these  officials  and  the  people  variously 
organized  for  social  and  educational  betterment. 
Then  there  would  be  a  "long  pull,  a  strong  pull,  and 
a  pull  all  together"  for  the  solution  of  the  problems 
of  rural  life  and  the  rural  school. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  FARMER  AND   HIS  HOME 

Farming  in  the  Past. — In  the  past,  successful  farm- 
ing was  easier  than  it  is  at  present  or  is  destined  to 
be  in  the  future.  In  the  prairie  regions  of  the  great 
central  West,  the  virgin  and  fertile  soil,  the  large 
acreage  of  easy  cultivation,  and  the  good  prices  made 
success  inevitable.  Indeed,  these  conditions  were 
thrust  upon  the  fortunate  farmer. 

But  those  days  are  passed.  Increased  population 
is  reducing  the  acreage  and  cultivation,  while  it  is 
eliminating  the  surplus  fertility;  competition  and 
social  and  economic  pressure  are  reducing  the  margin 
of  profits.  Thrift,  good  management,  and  brains  are 
becoming  increasingly  important  factors  in  successful 
farming. 

Old  Conceit  and  Prejudice. — Twenty  years  ago, 
when  the  agricultural  colleges  were  taking  shape  and 
attempting  to  impress  their  usefulness  upon  the  farmer, 
the  latter  usually  assumed  a  sneering  and  defiant 
attitude,  and  referred  to  their  graduates  as  "silk- 
stocking  farmers" — or,  as  one  farmer  put  it,  "theat- 
rical" sort  of  fellows,  meaning  theoretical!  In  the 
farming  of  the  future,  however,  the  agricultural  college 

152 


THE    FARMER    AND    HIS    HOME  153 

and  its  influence  are  bound  to  play  a  large  part. 
There  is  plenty  of  room  on  a  good  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  for  the  best  thinking  and  the  most 
careful  planning.  Foresight  and  ingenuity  of  the 
rarest  kinds  are  demanded  there. 

We  wish  to  enumerate,  and  discuss  in  brief,  some  of 
the  important  points  of  vantage  to  be  watched  and 
carefully  guarded,  if  farm  life,  which  means  rural  life, 
is  to  be  pleasant  and  profitable.  If  rural  life  is  to 
retain  its  attractions  and  its  people,  it  must  be  both 
of  these.  Let  us,  in  this  chapter,  investigate  some 
things  which,  although  apart  from  the  school  and 
education  in  any  technical  sense,  are  truly  educative, 
in  the  best  sense. 

Leveling  Down. — One  thing  that  impresses  all  who 
visit  the  country  and  the  ordinary  farm  homes  is 
that  there  is  noticeable  in  many  who  live  in  the  country 
a  kind  of  "leveling  down"  process.  People  become 
accommodated  to  their  rather  quiet  and  unexciting 
surroundings.  Their  houses  and  barns,  in  the  way  of 
repairs  and  improvements,  are  allowed  gradually  to 
succumb  to  the  tooth  of  time  and  the  beating  of  the 
elements.  This  process  is  so  slow  and  msidious 
that  those  who  live  in  the  midst  of  it  scarcely  notice 
the  decay  that  is  taking  place.  Hence  it  continues 
to  grow  worse  until  it  gives  the  farm  premises  a  very 
unattractive  and  dilapidated  appearance.  Weeds 
grow  up  all  around  the  buildings  and  along  the  roads, 
so   slowly,    that    they   remain   unnoticed   and   hence 


154  THE   FARMER  AND   HIS    HOME 

uncut — when  half  an  hour's  work  might  suffice  to 
destroy  them  all,  to  the  benefit  of  the  farm  and  its 
improved  appearance. 

In  the  country  the  tendency,  as  we  have  said,  is  to 
''level  down."  People  live  in  comparative  isolation; 
imitation,  comparison,  and  competition  enter  but 
little  into  their  thoughts  and  occupations.  In  the 
city  it  is  otherwise.  People  live  in  close  proximity 
to  each  other,  and  one  enterprising  person  can  start 
a  neighborhood  movement  for  the  improvement  of 
lawns  and  houses.  There  is  more  conference,  more 
criticism  and  comparison,  more  imitation.  In  the 
city  the  tendency  is  to  "level  up." 

When  one  moves  from  a  large  active  center  to  a 
smaller  one,  the  life  tendency  is  to  accommodate 
one's  self  to  his  environment;  while  if  one  moves 
from  a  small,  quiet  place  to  a  larger  and  more  active 
center,  the  life  tendency  is  to  level  up.  It  is,  of  course, 
fortunate  for  us  that  we  are  able  to  accommodate 
ourselves  to  our  environment  and  to  derive  a  growing 
contentment  from  the  process.  The  prisoner  may 
become  so  content  in  his  cell  that  he  will  shed  tears 
when  he  is  compelled  to  leave  it  for  the  outer  world 
where  he  must  readjust  himself.  The  college  man,  over 
whom  there  came  a  feeling  of  desolation  on  settling 
down  in  a  small  country  village  with  one  store,  comes 
eventually  to  find  contentment,  sitting  on  the  counter 
or  on  a  drygoods  box,  swapping  stories  with  others 
like  himself  who  have  leveled  down  to  a  very  circum- 


THE   FARMER  AND    HIS   HOME  155 

scribed  life  and  living.  Leveling  down  may  be  accom- 
plished without  effort  or  thought,  but  eternal  vigilance 
is  the  price  of  leveling  up. 

Premises  Indicative. — A  farmer  is  known  by  the 
premises  he  keeps,  just  as  a  person  is  known  by  the 
company  he  keeps.  If  a  man  is  thrifty  it  will  find  ex- 
pression in  the  orderliness  of  his  place.  If  he  is  intelli- 
gent and  inventive  it  will  show  in  the  appointments  and 
adaptations  everywhere  apparent,  inside  and  outside  the 
buildings.  If  the  man  and  his  family  have  a  fine 
sense  of  beauty  and  propriety,  an  artistic  or  aesthetic 
sense,  there  will  be  evidences  of  cleanliness  and  simple 
beauty  everywhere — in  the  architecture,  in  the  paint- 
ing, in  the  pictures,  and  the  carpets,  in  the  kinds  and 
positions  of  the  trees  and  shrubbery,  and  in  the 
general  neatness  and  cleanliness  of  the  premises. 
It  is  not  so  necessary  that  people  possess  much,  but  it 
is  important  that  they  make  much  of  what  they  do 
possess.  The  exquisite  touch  on  all  things  is  analogous 
to  the  flavor  of  our  food — it  is  as  important  for  appe- 
tite and  for  nourishment  as  the  food  itself. 

Conveniences  by  Labor-saving  Devices. — If  there  are 
ingenuity  and  the  power  of  ordinary  invention  in 
common  things,  system  and  devices  for  saving  labor 
will  be  evident  everywhere.  The  motor  will  be 
pressed  into  service  in  various  ways.  There  will 
be  a  place  for  everything,  and  everything  will  be  in 
its  place.  Head  work  and  invention,  rather  than  mere 
imitation,  characterize  the  activities  of  the  master. 


156  THE   FARMER   AND   HIS   HOME 

Eggs  in  Several  Baskets. — The  day  is  past  when 
success  may  be  attained  by  raising  wheat  alone. 
This  was,  of  course,  in  days  gone  by,  the  easiest  and 
cheapest  crop  to  produce.  It  was  also  the  crop  that 
brought  the  largest  returns  in  the  shortest  time. 
Wheat  raising  was  merely  a  summer's  job,  with  a 
prospective  winter's  outing  in  some  city  center.  It 
was  and  is  still  the  lazy  farmer's  trick.  It  was  an 
effort  similar  to  that  of  attempting  the  invention  of 
a  perpetual  motion  machine;  it  was  an  attempt,  if 
not  to  get  something  for  nothing,  at  least  to  get  some- 
thing at  the  lowest  cost,  regardless  of  the  future. 
But  nature  cannot  be  cheated,  and  the  modern  farmer 
has  learned  or  is  learning  rapidly,  that  he  must  rotate 
and  diversify  his  crops  if  he  would  succeed  in  the  long 
run.  Consequently  he  has  begun  rotation.  He  also 
replenishes  his  soil  with  nitrogen-producing  legumes, 
along  with  corn  planting  and  with  summer  fallowing. 
He  engages  in  the  raising  of  chickens,  hogs,  cattle, 
and  horses.  This  diversification  saves  him  from  total 
loss  in  case  of  a  bad  year  in  one  line.  The  farmer 
does  not  carry  all  his  eggs  in  one  basket.  A  bad  year 
with  one  kind  of  crops  may  be  a  good  year  with  some 
other.  Diversification  also  makes  farming  an  all- 
year  occupation,  every  part  of  which  is  bringing  a 
good  return,  instead  of  being  a  job  with  an  in- 
come for  the  summer  and  an  outlay  for  the  winter. 
Live  stock,  sheep,  hogs,  and  cattle  grow  nights, 
Sundays,    and    mnters    as  well    as    at  other  times, 


THE  FARMER   AND    HIS   HOME  157 

and  so  the  profits  are  accumulating  all  the  year 
round. 

The  Best  is  the  Cheapest. — The  modern  farmer  also 
realizes  that  it  takes  no  more,  nor  indeed  as  much,  to 
feed  and  house  the  best  kinds  of  animals  than  it 
does  to  keep  the  scrub  varieties.  In  all  of  this  there 
is  a  large  field  for  study  and  investigation.  But 
one  must  be  interested  in  his  animals  and  understand 
them.  They  should  know  his  voice  and  he  should 
know  their  needs  and  their  habits.  As  in  every  other 
kind  of  work  there  must  be  a  reasonable  interest; 
otherwise  it  cannot  be  an  occupation  which  will  make 
life  happy  and  successful. 

Good  Work. — The  good  farmer  has  the  feel  and  the 
habit  of  good  work.  The  really  successful  man  in 
any  calling  or  profession  is  he  who  does  his  work 
conscientiously  and  as  well  as  he  can.  The  sloven 
becomes  the  bungler,  and  the  bungler  is  on  the  high 
road  to  failure.  It  is  always  a  pleasant  thing  to  see 
a  man  do  his  work  well  and  artistically.  It  is  the  habit, 
the  policy,  the  attitude  of  thus  doing  that  tell  in  the 
long  run.  A  farmer  may  by  chance  get  a  good  crop 
by  seeding  on  unplowed  stubble  land,  but  he  must 
feel  that  he  is  engaged  in  the  business  of  trymg  to 
cheat  himself,  like  the  boy  playing  soHtaire — he  does 
not  let  his  right  hand  know  what  his  left  hand  is 
doing.  The  good  farmer  is  an  artist  in  his  work, 
while  the  poor  farmer  is  a  veritable  bungler — blaming 
his  tools  and  Nature  herself  for  his  failures. 


158  THE   FARMER   AND   HIS   HOME 

Good  Seed  and  Trees. — The  successful  farmer 
knows  from  study  and  experience  that  only  healthy  seed 
and  healthy  animals  will  produce  good  grain  and  strong 
animals  after  their  kind.  He  does  not  try  tricks  on 
Nature.  He  selects  the  best  kinds  of  trees  and  shrub- 
bery and  when  these  are  planted  he  takes  care  of  them. 
He  realizes  that  what  is  worth  sowing  and  planting  is 
worth  taking  care  of. 

A  Good  Caretaker. — The  successful  and  intelligent 
farmer  keeps  all  his  buildings,  sheds,  and  fences  in 
good  repair  and  well  painted.  He  is  not  penny- wise 
and  pound-fooHsh.  He  knows  the  value  of  paint  from 
an  economic  and  financial  point  of  view  as  well  as 
from  an  artistic  and  aesthetic  one.  Kjiowing  these 
things,  and  from  an  ingrained  feeling  and  habit,  he 
sees  to  it  that  all  his  machinery  and  tools  are  under 
good  cover,  and  are  not  exposed  to  the  gnawing 
tooth  of  the  elements.  This  habit  and  attitude  of 
the  man  are  typical  and  make  for  success  as  well 
as  for  contentment.  As  it  is  not  the  saving  of  a  par- 
ticular dollar  that  makes  a  man  thrifty  or  wealthy, 
but  the  habit  of  saving  dollars;  so  it  is  not  the  taking 
care  of  this  or  that  piece  of  machinery,  or  that  par- 
ticular building,  but  the  habit  of  doing  such  thmgs 
that  leads  him  to  success. 

Family  Cooperation. — Such  a  man  will  also  enlist 
the  interest  and  the  active  cooperation  of  his  sons 
and  daughters  by  giving  them  property  or  interests 
which  they  can  call  their  own;  he  will  make  them,  in  a 


THE   FARMER   AND   HIS    HOME  159 

measure,  co-partners  with  him  on  the  farm.  There 
could  be  no  better  way  of  developing  in  them  their 
best  latent  talents.  It  would  result  in  mutual  profit 
and,  what  is  better,  in  mutual  love  and  happiness. 
One  of  the  greatest  factors  in  a  true  education  is  to 
be  interested,  self-active,  and  busy  toward  a  definite 
and  worthy  end.  Under  such  circumstances  both  the 
parents  and  the  children  might  be  benefited  by  taking 
short  courses  in  the  nearest  agricultural  college ;  and  a 
plan  of  giving  each  his  turn  could  be  worked  out  to  the 
interest  and  profit  of  all  the  family.  Such  a  family 
would  become  local  leaders  in  various  enterprises. 

An  Ideal  Life. — It  would  seem  that  such  an  intelli- 
gent and  successful  farmer  and  his  family  could  lead 
an  ideal  life.  Every  life  worth  while  must  have  work, 
disappointments,  and  reverses.  But  work — reason- 
able work — is  a  blessing  and  not  a  curse.  Work  is 
an  educator,  a  civilizer,  a  sanctifier. 

A  family  like  that  described  might  in  the  course  of 
a  few  years  possess  most  of  the  modern  conveniences. 
The  telephone,  the  daily  mail,  the  automobile,  and 
other  inventions  are  at  hand,  in  the  country  as  well 
as  in  the  city.  The  best  literature  of  to-day  and  of  all 
time  is  available.  Music  and  art  are  easily  within 
reach.  With  these  advantages  any  rural  family  may 
have  a  happy  home.  This  is  more  than  most  people 
in  the  cities  can  have.  More  and  more  of  our 
people  should  turn  in  the  future  to  this  quiet  but 
happy  and  ideal  country  life. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  RURAL  RENAISSANCE 

Darkest  Before  the  Dawn. — Prior  to  the  present 
widespread  discussion,  which  it  is  hoped  will  lead  to 
a  rural  renaissance,  the  condition  and  the  prospects  of 
country  life  and  the  country  school  looked  dark  and 
discouraging.  Country  life  seemed  to  be  passing 
into  the  shadow  and  the  storm.  It  seemed  as  if  the 
country  was  being  not  only  deserted  but  forgotten. 
The  urban  trend,  as  we  have  seen,  moved  on  apace. 
Farms  were  being  deserted  or,  if  cultivated  at  all, 
were  passing  more  and  more  into  the  hands  of  renters. 
The  owners  were  farming  by  proxy.  This  meant 
decreased  production  and  impoverished  soil.  It  meant 
one-crop,  or  small-grain  farming;  it  meant  a  class  of 
renters  or  tenants  with  only  temporary  homes,  and 
hence  with  only  a  partial  interest.  The  inevitable 
result  would  be  an  impoverished  rural  life  and  poor 
rural  schools.  Without  a  realization  of  the  seriousness 
of  the  situation  and  the  trend  on  the  part  of  the  people 
at  large,  all  these  conditions  prevailed  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent.  The  people  seemed  unaware  of  the 
fact  that  rural  life  was  not  keeping  pace  with  the  pro- 
gress of  the  world  around.     In  New  England  whole 

1 60 


THE  RURAL  RENAISSANCE  l6l 

districts  were  practically  deserted,  and  her  abandoned 
farms  told  the  tale.  In  Virginia  and  in  most  of  the 
older  states  similar  conditions  existed.  The  people 
migrated  either  to  the  cities  or  to  the  newer  and 
cheaper  agricultural  regions  of  the  West. 

The  Awakening. — But  the  time  came  when  the 
newer  lands  were  not  so  available  and  when  social 
and  economic  pressure  forced  the  whole  problem  of 
rural  life  upon  the  attention  of  the  nation.  Difi&culty 
in  adjustment  to  surroundings  always  constitutes  a 
problem,  and  a  problem  alwa}'s  arouses  thought. 
When  our  adjustment  is  easy  and  successful  it  is 
effected  largely  through  habit;  but  when  it  is  obstructed 
or  thwarted,  thought  and  reason  must  come  to  the 
rescue.  Investigation,  comparison,  and  reflection  are 
then  drafted  for  a  solution.  This  is  what  happened 
a  few  years  ago.  The  whole  situation,  it  is  true,  had 
been  in  mind  previously,  but  onl}'  in  a  half  conscious 
or  subconscious  way.  It  was  being  felt  or  sensed, 
more  or  less  clearly,  that  there  was  something 
wrong,  that  there  was  a  great  unsupplied  need,  in 
rural  life;  but  the  thought  had  no  definite  shape. 
The  restiveness,  the  restlessness,  was  there  but  no 
distinct  and  articulate  voices  gave  utterance  to  any 
definite  policy  or  determination.  There  was  no 
clearly  formulated  consensus  of  thought  as  to  what 
ought  to  be  done.  Prior  to  this  time  the  thought  of 
the  people  had  not  been  focused  on  country  life  at  all. 
The  attention  of  the  rural  districts  was  not  on  them- 

Rural  Life — ii 


l62  THE  RURAL  RENAISSANCE 

selves;  they  were  not  really  self-conscious  of  their 
condition  or  that  there  was  any  important  problem 
before  them.  But  not  many  years  ago,  owing  to 
various  movements,  which  were  both  causes  and  effects, 
the  whole  country  began  to  be  aroused  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  subjects  which  I  have  been  discussing. 
The  Committee  of  Twelve  on  Rural  Schools  appointed 
by  the  National  Educational  Association  had  reported 
the  phases  of  the  rural  life  problem  in  1897;  but  many 
declarations  and  reports  of  that  kind  are  necessary 
to  stir  the  whole  country.  Hence  no  decisive  move- 
ment, even  in  rural  education,  became  noticeable 
for  several  years.  But  this  report  did  much  good; 
it  not  only  formulated  educational  thought  and  policy 
in  regard  to  the  subject  but  it  also  awakened  thought 
and  discussion  outside  of  the  teaching  profession. 

The  Agricultural  Colleges. — The  agricultural  col- 
leges and  experimental  stations  in  the  several  states 
had  also  been  active  for  some  years  and  had  formu- 
lated a  body  of  knowledge  in  regard  to  agricultural 
principles  and  methods.  They  had  distributed  this 
information  widely  among  the  farmers  of  the  country. 
The  latter,  at  first,  looked  askance  at  these  colleges 
and  their  propaganda,  and  often  refused  to  accept 
their  suggestions  and  advice  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  ''mere  theory,"  and  that  farmers  could  not  be 
taught  practical  agriculture  by  mere  "book  men" 
and  "theorizers."  The  practical  man  often  despises 
theory,    not   realizing   that   practice   without    theory 


THE   RURAL   RENAISSANCE  1 63 

is  usually  blind.  But  the  growing  science  of  agri- 
culture was  working  like  a  leaven  for  the  improve- 
ment of  farm  life  in  all  its  phases,  and  to-day  the 
agricultural  colleges  and  experiment  stations  are  the 
well-springs  of  information  for  practical  farmers 
everywhere.  Bulletins  of  information  are  published 
and  distributed  regularly,  and  farmers  are  being 
brought  into  closer  and  closer  touch  with  these  in- 
stitutions. 

Conventions. — During  this  awakening  period,  con- 
ventions of  various  kinds  are  held,  which  give  the 
farmers  an  opportunity  to  hear  and  to  participate 
in  discussions  pertaining  to  the  problems  with  which 
they  are  wrestling.  They  come  together  in  district, 
county,  or  state  conventions,  and  the  result  has  been 
that  a  class  consciousness,  an  esprit  de  corps,  is  being 
developed.  Farmers  hear  and  see  bigger  and  better 
things;  their  world  is  enlarged  and  their  minds  are 
stimulated;  they  are  induced  to  think  in  larger  units. 
Thought,  like  water,  seeks  its  level,  and  in  conventions 
of  this  kind  the  individual  "levels  up."  He  goes  home 
inspired  to  do  better  and  greater  things,  and  spreads 
the  new  gospel  among  his  neighbors.  At  the  con- 
ventions he  hears  a  variety  of  topics  discussed,  in- 
cluding good  roads,  house  plans,  sanitation,  schools, 
and  others  too  numerous  to  mention. 

Other  Awakening  Agencies. — The  agricultural  paper, 
which  practically  every  farmer  takes  and  which  every 
farmer  should  take,  brings  to  the  farm  home  each  week 


1 64  THE   RURAL  RENAISSANCE 

the  most  modern  findings  on  all  phases  of  country 
life.  The  rural  free  delivery  and  the  parcel  post 
bring  the  daily  mail  to  the  farmer's  door.  The  rural 
telephone  is  becoming  general,  and  also  the  automobile 
and  other  rapid  and  convenient  modes  of  communica- 
tion and  transportation.  All  these  things  have  helped  to 
develop  a  clearer  consciousness  of  country  life,  its  prob- 
lems and  its  needs. 

The  Farmer  in  Politics. — Add  to  all  the  foregoing 
considerations  the  fact  that,  in  every  state  legislature 
and  in  Congress,  the  number  of  rural  representatives 
is  constantly  increasing,  and  we  see  clearly  that  the 
country  districts  are  awakening  to  a  realization  not 
only  of  their  needs  but  of  their  rights.  All  of  these 
conditions  have  helped  to  turn  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
people,  in  state  and  nation,  to  long  neglected  problems. 

The  National  Commission. — So  the  various  agencies 
and  factors  enumerated  above  and  others  besides, 
all  working  more  or  less  consciously  and  all  conspiring 
together,  finally  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a 
National  Commission  on  Rural  Life,  the  results 
and  findings  of  which  were  made  the  subject  of  a 
special  message  from  the  president  to  Congress  in 
1909.  The  report  of  the  commission  was  issued 
from  the  Government  Printing  Office  in  Washington 
as  Document  Number  705,  and  should  be  read  by 
every  farmer  in  the  country.  This  commission  was 
the  resultant  of  many  forces  exerted  around  family 
firesides,  in  the  schoolroom,  in  the  press,  on  the  plat- 


THE  RURAL  RENAISSANCE  165 

form,  in  conventions,  in  legislatures,  and  in  the  halls 
of  Congress.  For  the  first  time  in  this  country,  the 
conditions  and  possibilities  of  rural  life  were  made  the 
subjects  of  investigation  and  report  to  a  national  body. 
Thus  the  Commission  became  thenceforth  a  potent 
cause  of  the  attention  and  impetus  since  given  to  the 
problems  we  are  discussing. 

Mixed  Farming. — In  recent  years,  too,  what  may  be 
called  "scientific  farming"  has  become  a  decided 
"movement"  and  is  now  very  extensively  practiced. 
This  includes  diversified  farming,  rotation  of  crops, 
stock  raising,  the  breeding  of  improved  stock,  better 
plowing,  and  a  host  of  matters  connected  with  the 
farmer's  occupation.  Thus  farming  is  becoming 
neither  a  job  nor  an  avocation,  but  a  genuine  vocation, 
or  profession.  It  requires  for  its  success  all  the  brains, 
all  the  ingenuity,  all  the  attention  and  push  that  an 
intelligent  man  can  give  it;  and,  withal,  it  promises 
all  the  variety,  the  interest,  the  happiness,  and  the 
success  that  any  profession  can  offer. 

Now  Before  the  Country. — The  movement  in  behalf 
of  a  richer  rural  life  and  of  better  rural  schools  is 
now  before  the  country.  It  is  the  subject  of  dis- 
cussion everywhere.  It  is  in  the  limehght;  the  lit- 
erature on  the  subject  is  voluminous;  books  without 
number,  on  all  phases  of  the  subject,  are  commg 
from  the  press.  Educational  papers  and  magazines, 
and  even  the  lay  press,  are  devoting  unstinted  space 
to  discussions  on  country  life  and  the  rural  school. 


1 66  THE  RURAL  RENAISSANCE 

The  country  has  the  whole  question  "on  the  run," 
with  a  fair  prospect  of  an  early  capture.  On  pages 
182-186  we  give  a  bibliography  of  a  small  portion 
of  the  literature  on  these  questions  which  has  come 
out  recently. 

Educational  Extension. — Within  the  last  few  years 
the  movement  known  as  "extension  work,"  connected 
with  the  educational  institutions,  has  had  a  rapid 
growth.  The  state  universities,  agricultural  colleges, 
and  normal  schools  in  almost  every  state  are  doing 
their  utmost  to  carry  instruction  and  education  in  a 
variety  of  forms  to  communities  beyond  their  walls. 
They  are  vying  with  each  other  in  their  extension 
departments,  in  extra-mural  service  of  every  possible 
kind.  In  many  places  institutions  are  even  furnishing 
musical  performances  and  other  forms  of  entertain- 
ment at  cost,  in  competition  with  the  private  bureaus, 
thus  saving  communities  the  profits  of  the  bureau 
and  the  expense  of  the  middlemen.  The  University 
of  Wisconsin  has  been  in  recent  years  the  leader  in 
this  extension  work.  Minnesota,  and  most  of  the 
central  and  western  states  are  active  in  the  cam- 
paign of  carrying  education  and  culture  to  outlying 
communities.  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  North  Da- 
kota have  recently  pooled  their  forces  for  some  ex- 
change of  service  in  extension  work. 

Library  Extension  Work. — In  Wisconsin,  the  state 
library  is  under  the  direction  of  the  university  exten- 
sion department,  and  collections  of  books,  which  may 


THE   RUR.\L  RENAISSANCE  1 67 

be  retained  for  a  definite  length  of  time,  may  be  se- 
cured by  any  town  or  community  in  the  state.  In  this 
way  a  library  may  do  excellent  service. 

Some  Froth. — No  doubt  some  froth  will  be  produced 
by  the  stirring  of  the  waters  which  are  moving  in  some 
places  with  whirlpool  rapidity.  There  is  considerable 
sound  and  fury,  no  doubt,  in  the  discussions  and  in 
the  things  attempted  in  these  uplifting  movements. 
There  is  a  considerable  amount  of  smoke  in  propor- 
tion to  the  fire  beneath.  But,  even  with  the  froth, 
the  noise,  and  the  smoke,  there  is  some  latent  power, 
some  energy,  beneath  and  behind  it  all.  The  main 
thing  is  that  the  power,  the  energy,  the  thought,  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  nation  have  been  started  on  the 
right  way.  We  can  discount  and  overlook  the  vagaries 
and  foibles  which  will  undoubtedly  play  around  the 
outskirts  of  the  movement.  Ever}^  new  movement 
shows  similar  phenomena.  Much  will  be  said,  written, 
and  done  which  is  mere  surface  display.  But  while 
these  may  do  little  good,  they  will  do  no  harm  and 
are  indicative  of  the  inner  and  vital  determination 
of  the  people  to  confront  the  difficulties. 

Thought  and  Attitude. — Our  thought  and  our  atti- 
tude make  any  kind  of  work  or  any  kind  of  posi- 
tion desirable  and  worthy,  or  the  reverse.  Many 
vicious  leaders  poison  the  minds  of  workers  and  make 
them  dissatisfied  with  their  work  and  their  employers 
by  suggesting  a  wrong  spirit  and  attitude.  We  do 
not  advocate  passive  submission  to  wrongs;  nor  on 


1 68  THE  RURAL  RENAISSANCE 

the  other  hand  do  we  think  that  the  interests  of  the 
laborer  are  to  be  subserved  by  infusing  into  his  mind 
jealousy  and  envy  and  discontent  with  his  lot. 

A  young  man  goes  through  the  practice  and  games 
of  football,  enduring  exertion  and  pain  which  he 
would  not  allow  any  other  person  to  force  upon  him; 
at  the  same  time,  he  has  a  song  in  his  heart.  On  a 
camping  trip  a  person  will  submit  to  rigors  and  priva- 
tions which  he  would  think  intolerable  at  home. 
Whatever  is  socially  fashionable  is  done  with  pleasure ; 
the  mind  is  the  great  factor.  If  one  is  interested  in  his 
work,  it  is  pleasant — indeed  more  enjoyable  than  play; 
but  if  there  is  no  interest  it  is  all  drudgery  and  pain. 
The  attitude,  the  motive,  the  will  make  all  the  differ- 
ence in  the  world.  In  the  rural  renaissance,  farm  life 
may  become  more  and  more  fashionable.  This  is  by  no 
means  impossible.  Country  life  has  no  such  rigors  as 
the  football  field  or  the  outing  in  the  wilds.  When  as 
a  people  we  have  passed  from  the  sensuous  and  erotic 
wave  on  the  crest  of  which  we  seem  at  present  to  be 
carried  along,  we  can  with  profit,  intellectually, 
morally,  socially,  and  physically,  "go  forth  under  the 
open  sky  and  list  to  Nature's  teachings."  Everything 
except  the  present  glare  of  excitement  beckons  back 
to  the  land,  back  to  the  country.  Whether  as  a 
people  we  shall  effectively  check  the  urban  trend, 
will,  in  the  not  distant  future,  test  the  self-control, 
the  foresight,  the  wisdom,  and  the  character  of  the 
manhood  and  womanhood  of  this  nation. 


CHAPTER  XV 
A  GOOD   PLACE  AFTER  ALL 

Not  Pessimistic. — Some  of  the  early  chapters  of 
this  book  may  have  left  the  impression  that  a  restora- 
tion, or  rejuvenation,  of  comitry  life,  such  as  will 
reverse  the  urban  trend  and  make  rural  life  the  more 
attractive  by  comparison,  is  difficult  if  not  impossible. 
It  is  difficult  we  grant;  but  we  do  not  wish  to  leave  the 
impression  that  such  is  improbable,  much  less  im- 
possible. We  were  simply  facing  the  truth  on  the 
dark,  or  negative,  side,  and  were  attempting  to  give 
reasons  for  conditions  and  facts  which  have  been 
everywhere  apparent.  If  there  are  two  sides  to  a 
question  both  should  be  presented  as  they  really  are. 
It  is  always  as  useless  and  as  wrong  to  minimize  as 
it  is  to  exaggerate,  and  we  were  simply  accounting  for 
facts. 

We  did  not  mean  that  there  is  no  hope.  The  first 
essential  in  the  solution  of  any  problem  or  in  the 
improvement  of  any  condition  is  to  get  the  condition 
clearly  and  accurately  in  mind — to  conceive  it  exactly 
as  it  is. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  city,  with  its  material 

169 


I70  A   GOOD   PLACE  AFTER  ALL 

splendor  and  its  social  life,  has  attractions;  but  if  we 
turn  to  rural  life,  we  shall  find,  if  we  go  below  the  sur- 
face of  human  nature,  the  strongest  appeals  to  our 
deeper  and  more  abiding  interests.  The  surface  of 
things  and  the  present  moment  are  near  to  us,  and 
powerful  in  the  way  of  motivation.  These,  however, 
are  the  aspects  of  human  environment  which  appeal 
most  strongly  to  the  child,  to  the  savage,  and  to  the 
uneducated  person.  If  we  are  optimists,  believing 
that  the  race  is  progressing,  and  that  our  own  people 
and  country  are  progressing  as  rapidly  as  or  more  rap- 
idly than  any  other,  we  must  believe  that  motives  which 
appeal  to  our  deeper,  saner,  and  more  disciplined 
nature  will  win  out  in  the  long  run.  Let  us  see,  then, 
what  some  of  the  appeals  to  this  saner  stratum  of 
human  nature,  in  behalf  of  rural  life,  are. 

Fewer  Hours  of  Labor  than  Formerly. — The  hours 
of  labor  have  been  reduced  everywhere.  In  the  olden 
time  labor  was  done  by  slaves  or  serfs,  and  neither 
their  bodies  nor  their  time  was  their  own.  They  la- 
bored when,  where,  and  as  long  as  their  masters  dic- 
tated. Even  a  generation  ago  there  was  little  said, 
and  there  was  no  uniformity,  as  to  how  long  a  working- 
man  should  labor.  In  busy  seasons  or  on  important 
pieces  of  work,  he  labored  as  long  as  the  light  of  day 
permitted.  It  was  from  sun  to  sun,  and  often  long 
after  the  sun  had  disappeared  from  the  western 
horizon.  Sixteen  hours  was  no  uncommon  day  for 
him.     Under  such  conditions  there  was  no  room  for 


A  GOOD   PLACE  AFTER  ALL  171 

mental,  social,  or  spiritual  advancement.  Later, 
the  hours  were  reduced  to  a  maximum  of  fourteen. 
The  idea  spread  and  the  labor  unions  brought  about 
a  uniformity  and  a  further  decrease  in  hours.  This 
standardizing  of  the  day  of  labor,  while  not  general 
in  the  country,  had  its  effect.  The  twelve-hour  day, 
while  still  long,  was  a  decided  betterment  over  the 
sixteen-hour  day.  There  was  beginning  to  be  a  little 
possible  margin  for  social,  mental,  and  recreational 
activity.  But  the  twelve-hour  day  must  inevitably 
get  the  better  of  the  human  system  and  of  the  spirit 
of  man.  It  is  too  long  and  too  steady  a  grind,  and 
habit  and  long  hours  soon  tell  their  story.  They  in- 
evitably lead  to  the  condition  of  the  "man  with  the 
hoe." 

As  improvements  in  machinery  were  perfected  and 
inventions  of  all  kinds  multiplied  and  spread  both  in 
the  factory  and  on  the  farm,  the  ten-hour  day  was 
ushered  in.  It  was  inevitable  in  this  age  of  inventions 
and  improvements.  Capital  had  these  inventions 
and  improvements  in  its  possession  and  a  laboring 
man  could  now  do  twice  as  much  with  the  same 
labor  as  formerly.  But  society  as  a  whole  could  not 
assent  to  the  theory  and  the  practice  that  the  capital- 
ist, the  o\vner  of  the  machines,  should  reap  all  the 
advantages;  and  so,  the  hours  were  reduced  to  ten, 
then  to  nine  and  now,  in  many  occupations,  to  eight. 
With  the  aid  of  inventions  and  improvements  the 
worker,  on  the  average,  can  do  more  in  the  eight  hours 


172  A  GOOD   PLACE  AFTER  ALL 

than  he  did  formerly  in  the  sixteen.  It  is  not  contended 
that  every  laborer  does  this  or  that  every  workman 
will  do  it  even  if  he  can.  This  phase  of  the  question 
is  a  large  factor  in  the  labor  problem.  But  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  average  man  and  of  society,  labor 
can  produce  in  eight  hours  as  much  as  it  produced 
formerly  in  sixteen.  This  idea  has  permeated 
rural  as  well  as  industrial  life,  and  makes  for  more 
opportunity  and  growth,  intellectual,  moral,  and 
social. 

The  Mental  Factor  Growing. — The  trend  alluded  to 
above  implies  that  the  mental  factor  is  growing 
larger  and  larger  in  occupations  of  all  kinds.  Success 
is  becoming  more  and  more  dependent  on  knowledge, 
ingenuity,  prudence,  and  foresight.  Especially  is  this 
true  on  the  farm.  There  is  scarcely  any  calling  that 
demands  or  can  make  use  of  such  varied  talents. 
All  fields  of  knowledge  may  be  drawn  upon  and  utilized, 
from  the  weather  signals  to  the  most  recent  findings 
and  conclusions  of  science  and  philosophy.  As  the 
hours  of  labor  both  in  the  factory  and  on  the  farm  are 
shortened  still  more — as  is  possible — the  hours  of 
study,  of  play,  and  of  social  converse  will  be  lengthened. 
Indeed  this  is  one  of  the  by-problems  of  civiliza- 
tion and  progress — to  see  that  leisure  hours  are  profit- 
ably spent  for  the  welfare  of  the  individual.  In  any 
event,  the  prospect  of  reasonable  hours  and  of  social 
and  cultural  opportunities  in  rural  life  is  growing 
from  day  to  day.     The  intelligent  man  with  modern 


A  GOOD  PLACE  AFTER  ALL  1 73 

machinery  and  ordinary  capital,  if  he  has  made  some 
scientific  study  of  agriculture,  need  have  no  fear  of 
not  living  a  successful  and  happy  life  on  the  farm.  A 
knowledge  of  his  calling  in  all  its  aspects,  with  the  aid 
of  modern  machinery,  and  with  sobriety,  thrift,  and 
industry,  will  bring  a  kind  of  life  to  both  adults  and 
children  that  the  crowded  factory  and  tenements 
and  the  tinsel  show  of  the  city  cannot  give.  But 
one  must  be  willing  to  forego  the  social  and  physical 
display  of  the  surface  of  things  and  to  choose  the 
better  and  more  substantial  part.  If  we  are  a  people 
that  can  do  this  there  is  hope  for  an  early  and  satis- 
factory solution  of  the  problems  of  rural  life. 

The  Bright  Side  of  Old-time  Country  Life. — Even 
in  the  country  life  of  twenty-five  to  fifty  years  ago, 
there  was  a  bright  and  happy  side.  It  was  not  all 
dark,  and,  in  its  influence  for  training  the  youth  to  a 
strong  manhood,  we  shall  probably  not  look  upon  its 
like  again.  If  strength  and  welfare  rather  than 
pleasure  are  the  chief  end  of  life,  many  of  the  experiences 
which  were  midoubtedly  hardships  were  blessings  in 
disguise.  Every  boy  had  his  chores  and  every  girl 
her  household  duties  to  perform.  The  cows  had  to 
be  brought  home  in  the  evening  from  the  prairie  or 
the  woods;  they  had  to  be  milked  and  cared  for; 
calves  and  hogs  had  to  be  fed;  horses  had  to  be  cared 
for  both  evening  and  morning ;  barns,  stables,  and  sheds 
had  to  be  looked  after.  All  the  animals  of  the  farm, 
including  the  domestic  fowls,  such  as  chickens,  ducks, 


174  A  GOOD  PLACE  AFTER  ALL 

and  turkeys,  became  our  friends  and  each  was  in- 
dividually known. 

Though  all  the  duties  of  farm  life  had  to  be  done 
honestly  and  well,  nevertheless  the  farmer's  boy  found 
time  to  go  fishing  and  hunting,  skating,  coasting,  and 
trapping.  He  learned  the  ways  and  the  habits  of 
beasts,  birds,  and  fish.  He  observed  the  squirrels 
garnering  their  winter  supply  in  the  fall.  He  watched 
the  shrewd  pocket  gopher  as  it  came  up  and  deposited 
the  contents  of  its  cheek  pockets  upon  the  pile  of 
fresh  dirt  beside  his  hole.  He  learned  how  to  trap 
the  muskrat,  and  woe  to  the  raccoon  that  was  dis- 
covered stealing  the  com,  for  it  was  tracked  and 
treed  even  at  midnight.  The  boy's  eyes  occasionally 
caught  sight  of  a  red  fox  or  of  a  deer;  and  the  call  of 
the  dove,  the  drum  of  the  pheasant,  the  welcome 
"whip-poor-will"  and  the  "to- whit,  to- whit,  to- who" 
of  the  owl  were  familiar  sounds.  He  ranged  the 
prairie  and  the  woods;  he  climbed  trees  for  nuts  and 
for  distant  views,  and  knew  every  hill,  valley,  and 
stream  for  miles  and  miles  around.  Even  his  daily 
and  regular  work  was  of  a  large  and  varied  kind. 
It  was  not  like  the  making  of  one  tenth  of  a  pin,  which 
has  a  strong  tendency  to  reduce  the  worker  to  one 
tenth  of  a  man. 

On  the  farm  one  usually  begins  and  finishes  a  piece 
of  work  whether  it  be  a  hay-rack  or  a  barn;  he  sees  it 
through — the  whole  of  it  receives  expression  in  him. 
It  is  his  piece  of  work  and  it  faces  him  as  he  has  to 


A  GOOD  PLACE  AFTER  ALL  175 

face  it.  The  tendency  is  for  both  to  be  "honest." 
If  there  were  so  much  brightness  and  variety  in  days 
gone  by,  when  all  work  was  done  by  hand,  how  much 
better  the  situation  can  be  now  and  in  the  future, 
when  inventions  and  machines  have  come  to  the 
rescue  of  the  laborer,  and  when  the  hours  of  toil  have 
been  so  materially  shortened! 

The  Larger  Environment. — There  is  no  doubt  that 
a  large  and  varied  environment  is  conducive  to  the 
growth  of  a  strong  and  active  personality.  If  one 
has  to  adjust  himself  at  every  turn  to  something 
new,  it  will  lead  to  self-activity  and  initiative,  to  in- 
genuity and  aggressiveness.  If  tadpoles  are  reared 
in  jars  of  different  sizes,  the  growth  and  size  of  each 
will  vary  with  the  size  of  the  vessel,  the  smallest 
jar  growing  the  smallest  tadpole,  and  the  largest  jar 
the  largest  tadpole.  It  is  fighting  against  the  laws  of 
fate  to  attempt  to  rear  strong  personahties  in  a  "flat" 
or  even  in  a  fifty-foot  lot.  They  need  the  range  of 
the  prairies,  the  hills,  and  the  woods.  Shakespeare 
was  born  and  brought  up  in  one  of  the  richest  and 
most  stimulating  environments,  natural  and  social, 
in  the  world;  and  this,  no  doubt,  had  much  to  do 
with  his  matchless  abihty  to  express  himself  on  all 
phases  of  nature  and  of  mind.  Large  and  varied 
influences,  while  they  do  not  compel,  at  least  tend 
to  produce,  large  minds;  for  they  leave  with  us  in- 
finite impressions  and  induce  correspondingly  varied 
reactions  and  experiences.     Under  such  conditions  a 


176  A  GOOD  PLACE  AFTER  ALL 

child  is  reacting  continually  and  thus  becoming  active 
and  efficient.  He  is  challenged  at  every  turn,  and  if 
stumbling  blocks  become  stepping  stones,  the  process 
is  the  very  best  kind  of  education. 

Games. — There  are  excellent  opportunities  in  the 
country  for  all  kinds  of  games,  for  there  ample  room 
and  many  incentives  to  activity  present  themselves. 
In  the  city,  children  are  often  content  with  seeing 
experts  and  professionals  give  performances  or  "  stunts," 
while  they,  themselves,  remain  passive.  In  the  coun- 
try there  are  not  so  many  attractions  and  distractions 
— so  many  dazzling  and  overwhelmingly  "superior" 
things — that  children  may  not  be  easily  induced  to 
"get  into  the  game"  themselves.  I  fear  that  in  recent 
years  owing  to  imitation  of  the  city  and  its  life,  play 
and  games  in  the  country  have  become  somewhat 
obsolete.  There  needs  to  be  a  renaissance  in  this 
field.  We  have  been  offered  everywhere  in  recent 
years  so  much  of  what  might  be  called  the  "finished 
product"  that  the  children  are  content  merely  to  sit 
around  as  spectators  and  watch  others  give  the  per- 
formances. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  rural  school  the  play  instincts 
of  country  children  must  be  awakened  again  in  be- 
half of  rural  life  in  general.  There  are  scores  of  games 
and  sports,  from  marbles  to  football,  which  should 
receive  attention.  In  recent  years  the  social  mind, 
in  all  sports,  seems  to  be  directed  to  the  result,  the 
winning  or  losing,  instead  of  to  the  game,  as  a  game. 


A  GOOD  PLACE  AFTER  ALL  177 

and  the  fun  of  it  all.  True  sportsmanship  should 
be  revived  and  cultivated.  There  is  no  reason  why- 
there  should  not  be  found  in  every  neighborhood, 
and  especially  at  every  school  center,  all  kinds  of 
plays  and  games,  each  in  its  own  time  and  place 
and  ha\ing  its  own  patronage — marbles,  tops,  swings, 
horseshoes,  "I  spy,"  anti-over,  pull-away,  prisoner's 
base,  tennis,  croquet,  volley  ball,  basketball,  skating, 
coasting,  skiing,  baseball,  and  football.  Horizontal 
bars,  turning  pole,  and  other  apparatus  should  be 
provided  in  every  playground.  In  the  social  centers, 
if  the  boys  can  be  organized  as  Boy  Scouts,  and  the 
girls  as  Camp-Fire  Girls,  good  results  will  ensue. 

Many  more  plays  and  games  will  suggest  themselves, 
and  those  for  girls  should  be  encouraged  as  well  as 
those  for  boys.  All  the  aspects  of  rural  life  can  thus 
be  made  most  enjoyable.  It  is  often  well  to  introduce 
and  cultivate  one  game  at  a  time,  letting  it  run  its 
course,  something  like  a  fever,  and  then,  at  the  psy- 
chological moment,  introduce  and  try  out  another. 
To  introduce  too  many  at  one  time  would  not  afford 
an  opportunity  for  children  to  experience  the  rise 
and  fall  .of  a  wave  of  enthusiasm  on  any  one,  and  this 
is  quite  important.  Usually  some  direction  should  be 
given  to  play,  but  this  direction  should  not  be  sup- 
pressive, and  should  be  given  by  a  leader  who  under- 
stands and  sympathizes  with  child  nature. 

Inventiveness  in  Rural  Life. — In  the  city,  where 
everything   is   manufactured   or   sold   ready-made,   a 

Rural  Life — 12 


178  A  GOOD  PLACE  AFTER  ALL 

person  simply  goes  to  the  store  and  buys  whatever  he 
needs.  In  the  country  this  cannot  be  done,  and  one 
is  driven  by  sheer  necessity  to  devise  ways  and  means 
of  supplying  his  needs,  himself.  He  simply  has  to 
invent  or  devise  a  remedy.  Necessity  is  the  mother 
of  invention. 

It  is  really  better  for  boys  and  girls  in  the  country 
if  their  parents  are  compelled  to  be  frugal  and  econom- 
ical. If  children  get  anything  and  everything  they 
wish,  merely  for  the  asking,  they  are  undone;  they 
become  weak  for  lack  of  self-exertion,  self-expression, 
and  invention;  they  become  dissatisfied  if  everything 
is  not  coming  their  way  from  others.  They  become 
selfish  and  careless.  Having  tasted  of  the  best,  merely 
for  the  asking,  they  become  dissatisfied  with  everything 
except  the  best.  This  is  the  dominant  tendency 
in  the  city  and  wherever  parents  are  foolish  enough 
to  satisfy  the  child's  every  whim.  If  the  parents 
carry  the  child  in  this  manner,  the  child,  in  later  years, 
will  have  weak  legs  and  the  parents  will  have  weak 
backs.  Moreover,  love  and  respect  move  in  the  direc- 
tion of  activity,  and  if  everything  comes  the  child's  way 
there  will  be  little  love,  except  "cupboard  love," 
going  the  other  way. 

It  is  unfortunate  for  children  to  experience  the  best 
too  early  in  life;  there  is  then  no  room  for  growth 
and  development.  It  was  Professor  James  who  said 
that  the  best  doll  he  ever  saw  was  a  home-made  rag 
doll;  it  left  sufficient  room  for  the  play  of  the  imagina- 


A  GOOD  PLACE  AFTER  ALL  179 

tion.  With  the  perfect,  factory-made  doll  there  is 
nothing  more  for  the  imagination  to  do;  it  is  complete, 
but  it  is  not  the  little  girl  who  has  completed  it.  In 
the  country,  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls  are 
induced  to  begin  and  complete  all  kinds  of  things. 
Many  things  have  to  be  made  outright  and  most 
things  have  to  be  repaired  on  the  farm.  Challenges 
of  this  kind  to  inventiveness  and  activity  are  outstand- 
ing all  the  time.  Sleds,  both  large  and  small,  wheel- 
barrows and  hay  racks,  sheds,  granaries,  and  barns 
are  both  made  and  repaired.  But  in  all  there  is  no 
mad  rush.  It  is  not  as  it  is  in  the  factory  or  in  the 
sawmill.  One  is  not  reduced  to  the  instantaneous 
reactions  of  an  automaton ;  he  has  time  to  breathe  and 
to  think.  One  can  act  like  a  free  man  rather  than 
like  a  machine.  There  is  room  for  thought  and  for 
invention. 

Activity  Rather  than  Passivity. — In  this  infinite 
variety  of  stimulation  and  response,  the  youth  is 
induced  to  become  active  rather  than  passive.  While 
he  is  not  pushed  unduly,  he  is  reasonably  active 
during  all  his  w^aking  hours,  and  the  habit  of  activity, 
of  doing,  is  ingrained.  This  is  closely  related  to  char- 
acter and  morality,  to  thrift  and  success.  Such  a 
person  is  more  likely  to  be  a  creditor  than  a  debtor 
to  society.  In  this  respect  the  country  and  the  farm 
have  been  the  salvation  of  many  a  youth. 

In  the  city  many  children  have  no  regular  employ- 
ment;  they  have  no  chores   to  do  and  no  regular 


I  So  A   GOOD   PLACE  AFTER  ALL 

occupation.  Evenings  and  vacations  find  them  on 
the  streets.  Then  Satan  always  finds  mischief  for 
idle  hands  to  do.  These  children  become  passive 
except  mider  the  impulses  of  instinct  or  of  mischievous 
ideas;  they  have  no  regular  and  systematic  work  to  do; 
everything  is  done  for  them.  During  their  early  years 
habits  of  idleness,  of  passive  receptivity,  of  mischief, 
and  possibly  of  crime,  are  ingrained.  And  though 
this  kind  of  life  may  be  more  pleasurable,  in  a  low 
sense,  than  the  active  life  of  the  country,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  as  to  which  is  the  more  wholesome  and 
strengthening. 

Child  Labor. — A  good  child-labor  law  is  absolutely 
essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  children  for  whom  it 
has  been  enacted;  nevertheless,  there  has  been  a  great 
omission  in  not  providing  that  idle  children  shall  do 
some  work.  Even  in  large  cities  there  are  probably 
more  children  who  do  not  work  enough  than  there  are 
who  are  made  to  work  too  hard.  In  our  zeal  we  some- 
times forbid  children  to  work,  when  some  work  would  be 
the  very  best  thing  for  them.  It  is  true  that  on  the 
farm  as  well  as  in  the  factor}^  ignorant  and  mercenary 
parents  make  dollars  out  of  the  sweat  of  their  children, 
when  these  should  be  going  to  school  or  engaged  in 
physical  and  mental  recreation  and  development.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  society  is  not  able  to  see  to  it,  that,  as 
in  Plato's  Republic,  every  child  and  every  person 
engage  in  the  work  or  study  for  which  he  is  best  fitted, 
and  to  the  extent  that  is  best  for  him.     Then  the 


A  GOOD   PLACE  AFTER  ALL  l8l 

hundreds  of  thousands  of  children  who  are  idhng 
would  be  engaged  in  some  kind  of  occupation,  and  those 
who  are  working  too  hard  would  be  given  lighter 
tasks;  and  all  would  have  the  privilege  of  an  appro- 
priate education. 

The  Finest  Life  on  Earth. — In  view  of  such  circum- 
stances and  opportunities,  life  in  the  country  should 
be,  and  could  be  made,  the  best  and  most  complete 
life  possible  to  a  human  being.  Country  life  is  the 
best  cradle  of  the  race.  To  have  a  good  home  and 
rear  a  family  in  the  heart  of  a  great  city  is  well-nigh 
impossible  for  the  average  laboring  man.  The  struggle 
for  existence  is  too  fierce  and  the  opportunity,  in  child- 
hood and  youth,  for  self-expression  and  initiative  is 
too  meager.  The  environment  is  too  vast,  complex, 
and  overwhelming,  with  nothing  worth  while  for  the 
child  to  do.  "Individuals  may  stand,  but  generations 
will  slip"  on  such  an  inclined  plane  of  life.  From  this 
point  of  view  it  can  be  truly  said,  we  think,  that  "God 
made  the  country  while  man  made  the  town." 

The  real,  vital  possibilities  of  country  fife  are  without 
number.  The  surface  attractions  of  the  city  are  most 
alluring.  A  focusing  of  the  public  mind  upon  the  prob- 
lem, its  pros  and  cons,  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  turn 
the  scales  without  delay  in  favor  of  country  life  and  its 
substantial  benefits. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  following  bibliography  is  submitted  as  affording  infor- 
mation and  suggestive  helps  to  those  who  are  interested  in 
the  problems  herein  discussed.  Although  the  books  and 
references  have  been  selected  with  care,  it  is  not  to  be  in- 
ferred that  the  list  includes  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
vast  and  still  increasing  output  of  literature  in  this  field  of 
investigation.  But  it  will  prove  to  be  a  fairly  comprehen- 
sive list  from  which  the  reader  may  select  such  articles  or 
books  as  make  a  favorable  appeal  to  him.  The  works  re- 
ferred to  are  all  of  recent  date,  and  express  the  current  trend 
of  thought  upon  the  problems  discussed  in  this  little  volume. 

BOOKS 

American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science.  Phila- 
delphia, 191 2.  Vol.  XL,  No.  129,  "Country  Life": 
Butterfield,  "Rural  Sociology  as  a  College  Disciphne"; 
Cance,  "Immigrant  Rural  Communities";  Carver, 
"Changes  in  Country  Population";  Coulter,  "Agri- 
cultural Laborers";  Davenport,  "Scientific  Farming"; 
Dixon,  "Rural  Home";  Eyerly,  "Cooperative  Move- 
ments among  Farmers"  ;  Foght,  "The  Country 
School";  Gillette,  "Conditions  and  Needs  of  Country 
Life";  Gray,  " Southern  Agriculture " ;  Hartman,  "Vil- 
lage Problems  " ;  Hamilton,  "  Agricultural  Fairs  " ;  Hen- 
derson, "Rural  Police";  Hibbard,  "Farm  Tendency"; 
Kates,  "Rural  Conferences";  Lewis,  "Tramp  Prob- 
lem"; Marquis,  "The  Press";  Mumford,  "Education 
for  Agriculture";  Parker,  "Good  Roads";  Pearson, 
"Chautauquas";  Roberts  and  Israel,  "Y.  M.  C.  A."; 
182 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  1 83 

Scudder,  "Rural  Recreation";  True,  "The  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture";  Van  Norman,  "Conveniences"; 
Watrous,  "Civic  Art";  Washington,  B.  T.,  "The  Rural 
Negro  Community";  Wilson,  "Social  Life";  Wells, 
"Rural  Church". 

Bailey,  L.  H.:  The  Country  Life  Movement  in  the  U.  S. 
(191 2)  220  pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York.  Cyclopedia 
of  American  Agriculture.  4  vols.  $20.00.  Macmillan 
Co.,  New  York.  The  State  and  the  Farmer.  (191 1) 
177  pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York.  The  Training  of 
Farmers.     (1909)    263  pp.    Century  Co.,  New  York. 

Betts,  George  H.:  New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools.  (1913) 
127  pp.    Houghton  Mifliin  Co.,  Boston. 

Brown,  H.  A.:  Readjustment  of  a  Rural  High  School  to  the 
Needs  of  a  Community.  (191 2)  Bureau  of  Education, 
Bulletin  No.  20. 

Buell,  Jennie:  One  Woman^s  Work  for  Farm  Women.  50c. 
Whitcomb  &  Barrows,  Boston. 

Burnham,  Ernest:  Two  Types  of  Rural  Schools.  (1912) 
129  pp.    Teachers  College,  Columbia,  New  York. 

Butterfield,  K.L,.:  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress.  $1.00.  Univ. 
of  Chicago  Press.  The  Country  Church  and  the  Rural 
Problem.    (191 1)    165  pp.   Univ.  of  Chicago  Press. 

Carney,  Mabel :  Country  Life  and  the  Country  School.  (191 2) 
405  pp.    Row,  Peterson  &  Co.,  Chicago. 

Conference  on  Rural  YjdwcdXiorv— Proceedings.  (1913)  45  pp. 
Wright  &  Potter,  Boston. 

Coulter,  John  Lee:  Cooperation  Among  Farmers.  (191 1) 
75c.    Sturgis  &  Walton  Co.,  New  York. 

Cubberly,  E.  P.:  The  Improvement  of  the  Rural  School. 
(1912)  75  pp.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston.  Rural 
Life  and  Education.    Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

Curtis,  Henry  S.:  Play  and  Recreation  for  the  Open  Country. 
(19 14)     265  pp.    Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 


l84  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Davenport,  Mrs.  E.:  Possibilities  of  the  Country  Home. 
(Bulletin.)    University  of  Illinois,  Urbana. 

Dodd,  Helen  C. :  The  Healthful  Farm  House;  by  a  Farmer'' s 
Wife.   (1911)   69  pp.  Whitcomb  &  Barrows,  New  York. 

Eggleston,  J.  D.,  and  Bruere,  R.  W.:  The  Work  of  the  Rural 
School.    (19 13)    287  pp.    Harpers. 

Fiske,  G.  W.:  The  Challenge  of  the  Country.  (191 2)  283  pp. 
Association  Press,  New  York. 

Foght,  H.  W.:  The  American  Rural  School.  (1910)  361pp. 
Macmillan  Co.,  New  York. 

Gates,  F.  T.:  The  Country  School  of  To-morrow.    (1913)    15 

pp.    General  Education  Board,  New  York. 
Gillette,  J.  M.:  Constructive  Rural  Sociology.  (1913)  301pp. 

Sturgis  &  Walton,  New  York. 
Haggard,  H.  R.:  Rural  Denmark  and  its  Lessons.     (191 1) 

$2.25.    Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  New  York. 
'H.u.tchmson,F.'K.:  Our  Country  Life.   (1912)  316  pp.  A.  C. 

McClurg  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
Kern,  O.].:  Ajnong  Country  Schools.    (1906)   366  pp.    Ginn 

&  Co.,  Boston. 
Macdonald,  N.  C:    The  Consolidation  of  Rural  Schools  in 

North  Dakota.    (1913)    35  pp.    State  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, Bismarck,  N.  D. 
McKeever,  Wm.  A.:  Farm  Boys  and  Girls.    (191 2)    326  pp. 

Macmillan  Co.,  New  York. 
Monahan,  A.  C. :  The  Status  of  Rural  Education  in  the  U.  S. 

Bureau  of  Education,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Page,  L.  W. :  Roads,  Paths,  and  Bridges.     (191 2)     $1.00 

Sturgis  &  Walton  Co.,  New  York. 
Pennsylvania     Rural     Progress    Association:  Proceedings, 

Rural  Life  Conference.    (191 2)    227  pp.    Julius  Smith, 

Secretary,  Pennsdale,  Pa. 
Plunkett,  Sir  Horace  C:  Rural  Problem  in  the  U.  S.    (1910) 

174  pp. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  185 

Report  of  National  Commission  on  Rural  Life.     Doc.  No. 

705.     Government  Printing  Office,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Schmidt,   C.   C:  Consolidation  of  Schools.     University  of 

North  Dakota. 
Seerley,  H  H.:  The  Country  School.   (1913)    218  pp.    Scrib- 

ner's  Sons,  New  York.    Rural  School  Education.    (191 2) 

84  pp.    University  of  Texas. 
Wray,  Angelina:  Jean  Mitchell's  School.     $1.00.     Public 

School  Pub.  Co.,  Bloomington,  Ind. 

ARTICLES  IN  REPORTS  AND  PERIODICALS 

AUman,  L.  J. :  Teachers  for  Rural  Schools.    Report,  N.  E.  A. 

(1910)    pp.  280  and  575. 

Bailey,  L.  H. :  Why  Boys  Leave  the  Farm.     Century,  72: 
410-16  (July,  1906). 

Barnes,  F.  R.:  Present  Defects  in  the  Rural  Schools.    Report 
N.  D.  E.  A.    (1909)    pp.  259-266. 

Bruere,  Martha  Bensley:  The  Farmer  and  His  Wife.    Good 
Housekeeping  Mag.,  June,  1914,  p.  820,  New  York. 

Conference  for  Education  in  the  South;  Proceedings,  1909. 
Foster,  Webb,  and  Parkes,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Consolidation:    Drop  a  postal  card  to  Superintendents  of 
Public  Instruction  for  latest  printed  matter. 

Cotton,  F.  A. :  Country  Life  and  the  Country  School.    School 
and  Home  Education,  28:90-94  (Nov.,  1908). 

Coulter,  J.  C:  Cooperative  Farming.     World's  Work,  2t,: 
59-63  (Nov.,  191 1). 

County  Supervision.    Report  N.  E.  A.  1908,  p.  252. 

Cubberly,  E.  P.:  Politics  and  the  Country  School  Problem. 
Educ.  Review,  47:10-21  (Jan.,  1914). 

Gillette,  J.  M. :  The  Drift  to  the  City.    Am.  Journal  of  Sociol- 
ogy, 16:645-67  (Mar.,  191 1). 


l86  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hibbard,  B.  H. :  Tenancy  in  tlie  North  Central  States.    Quar. 

Journal  of  Economics,  25:710-29  (Aug.,  191 1). 
Hill,  J.  J. :  What  We  Must  Do  to  he  Fed.    World's  Work,  19: 

12226-54  (Nov.,  1909). 
McClure,  D.   E.:  Education  of  Country  Children  for  the 

Farm.    Education,  26:65-70  (Oct.,  1905). 

Miller,  E.  E.:  Factors  in  the  Re-making  of  Country  Life. 
Forum,  48:354-62  (Sept.,  191 2). 

Passing  of  the  Man  With  the  Hoe.  World's  Work,  20: 
13246-58  (Aug.,  1910). 

Rural  Life  and  Rural  Education.  Report  N.  E.  A.  191 2, 
pp.  281-313. 

Supervision:  Index  of  N.  E.  A.  Reports  For  County.  Re- 
port of  1908,  pp.  252-71. 

Wells,  George  F.:  Is  an  Organized  Country  Life  Movement 
Possible?    Survey,  29:449-56  (Jan.  4,  1913). 


INDEX 


Activity  and  passivity,  179 
Affiliation,  112 
Agricultural  colleges,  46,  162 
Apperception  mass,  10 1 
Assistant  county  superintendent, 

134 

Attendance  in  consolidated  school, 

73 
Automobile  parties,  124 

"Back  to  the  country,"  9 

Best,  the — the  cheapest,  157 

Boarding  place,  62 

Boy  Scouts,  177 

Bright  side  of  rural  life,  173 

Camp-Fire  Girls,  177 

Character,  83 

Child  labor,  180 

China,  107,  144 

Chores,  10 

Church,  problems  of,  95 

Cities,  population  of,  19;  churches 

of,  23;  conveniences  in,  20,  21; 

schools  of,  22 
Commission,  Rural,  9,  164 
Committee  of  Twelve,  162 
Community  activities,  1 1 5 
Consolidation,  37,  60,  63,  65,  75; 

cost,  70;  difficulties,  64;  effects 

of,  71,  72,  73,  74;  process,  63; 

when  not  needed,  64 


Conventions,  163 
Cooperation,  139,  140,  145,  158 
County  superintendence,  129 
Course  of  study,  108 
Curriculum  in  rural  schools,  100- 
113 

Dancing,  120 
Debates,  116 
District  system,  64 
Diversification    in    farming,    156, 

165 
Dramatic  performances,  118 
Driver,  69 

Education,    77;   of   teachers,    84; 

value  of,  24 
Educational  centers,   23;  column 

in  press,  150 
Environment,  105,  175 
Examination  of  schools,  135 
Exhibits,  school,  122 
Experience,  teaching,  85 
Extension  work,  166 

Farmer,  the,  and  his  home,  152; 

and  his  politics,  164 
Fonmi,  a  rural,  123 


Games,  121,  176 
Grading,  71 


187 


i88 


INDEX 


Harvesting  machinery,  38-41 
High  schools,  progress  in,  47 
Higher  education,  progress  in,  44 
Hopkins,  Mark,  34,  35,  78 
Hours  of  labor,  170 

Ideal  life,  159 
Imitation,  18,  lOO,  loi 
Individual  work,  109 
Inseparables,  the  three,  88,  91,  126 
Interpreting  core,  loi 
Inventiveness  in  rural  life,   177- 
179 

Kindness,  too  much,  80 
Knots,  untying,  70 

Labor,  hours  of,  170 
Labor-saving  devices,  155 
Laws,  self-imposed,  150 
Leadership,  62,  114,  139,  147 
Lectures,  118 
Leveling  process,  153,  154 
Library  extension,  166 
Literary  society,  115 
Literature,  urbanized,  22 

Machinery,  caring  for,  158 
Married  teachers,  75 
Men  needed  in  teaching,  53,  93 
Mental  factor,  172 
Mixed  farming,  165 
"Mode,"  the,  88,  89 
Model  rural  school,  61 
Moving  pictures,  120 
Miinsterberg,  Prof.  H.,  92 
Murphy,  Francis,  141 
Music,  119 

Normal  schools,  45 


Ocean  travel,  43 
Organization,  26,  125 
"Overflow  of  instruction,"  iii 

Physical  soundness,  82,  122 
Plant,  the  educational,  34,  35,  77 
Problem,  rural,  24,  36,  37,  57,  131 
Profession,  57,  90 
Profit-sharihg,  145 
Progress,  lines  of,  38-48 
Punctuality,  73 

Reaping  machines,  14,  38 

Renaissance,  rural,  160 

Responsibility,  142 

Retired  farmers,  23 

Retirement  fund,  94 

Roads,  better,  75 

Routine,  11 

Rural  Commission,  9,  164 

Rural  schools,  49;  backward,  15, 
47,  49;  buildings,  28;  course  of 
study  for,  108;  good,  36,  61;  in- 
terior, 31;  no  progress  in,  50; 
organization,  26;  ventilation  of, 
29 

Rural  teachers,  102;  courses  for, 
59,  103 

Salaries,  87,  96,  97 

School  board,  98 

Scientific  farming,  165;  spirit,  107 

Self -activity,  148,  149,  150 

Social  center,  74,  114,  137;  cost  of, 

124,  126;  as  business  center,  125 
Spelling  school,  117  ^ 

Sports,  121 
Standards,  54,  58,  90;  to  be  raised, 

92 
Steam  engine,  42 


INDEX 


189 


Storm,  A.  V.,  53 

Supervision,  55,  60,  74,  127,  129; 
city,  132;  county,  129,  131;  im- 
portance of,  127;  nominal,  129; 
overdone,  128;  purpose  of,  132 

Surroundings,  effect  of,  on  chil- 
dren, 30,  34 

Teacher,  35,  75,  77,  79,  87,  113; 
chief  factor,  34;  leader,  62,  114, 
147;  courses  for,  59,  83,  103 

Terms,  school,  55,  109 

Textbook  teaching,  104 

Township  system,  65,  66 

Transportation  of  pupils,  67,  69 


Urban  trend,  19 
Urbanized  literature,  22 

Value  of  education,  24 
Ventilation,  29 

Wages,  90,  96 
Waste  land,  160 
Winter  work,  14 
Women's  condition,  16 
Work,  value  of,  10,  14,  157,  180; 
city,  23;  farm,  12 

Yearly  routine,  1 1 


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